the end is the beginning
by kaut
Summary: The team deals with the aftermath of Warrick's death.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: I don't own CSI.**** I wish I did, but alas it is not to be. Please don't sue.**

Chapter 1

She came back around and poured him another cup of coffee. He took the time to look up at her name tag before smiling at her. "Thanks…Jessica?" He was awarded with a shy smile before she blushed and turned away. He felt confident. He had her name and he received a smile. He grinned. "Jessica?" She turned around and faced him. He gave her his biggest smile. "Hi, I'm Nick."

Nick held out his hand. She took it and shook it. "Hi, Nick."

Nick grinned again and began to talk to her. His attention was so focused on the beautiful redhead, he almost never heard the gunshots coming from the alley.

But, he did hear them and so did every cop in the diner. Time slowed as he watched the cops instinctively stand, draw their weapons and head for the door, asking the customers to get down. He was about to get down with the other customers and let the officers do their job when a feeling of dread passed over him. He felt sick. He looked to the redhead, then to door. He sprinted out the door with the cops. When he rounded the corner, he saw Warrick's car and stopped dead in his tracks. "Warrick!"

Nick sprinted towards the car, passing the cops on his way by. He ignored the glass from the shattered window, focusing only on the body leaning against the door. He threw open the drivers side door and caught Warrick's limp body as it fell into his arms. Quickly, he checked for a pulse. When he couldn't find one, he could only cry. "God, Warrick, no…no."

Blood seeped down onto his shirt as he held his friend in his arms. He didn't see any of the activity going on around him. He never saw the police fan out in a search for the shooter. He never heard the police radio the shooting in. He only stirred when he felt a hand upon his shoulder. "Come on Nick."

He choked back his tears and shook his head. "Go find who did this."

"Everybody else is looking. I stayed to watch the scene, Nick. You have to let him go."

Nick continued to shake his head vigorously. "Come on Nick. The CSI's will be here soon. They'll need to process him when they arrive." Nick sighed and looked up at the officer. "We'll find him Nick."

He was reluctant as he let go of Warrick. He stood up and watched as Warrick's body dangled out of the car. He turned around and walked up to the back of the one of the buildings. Releasing his anger, he punched the building, instantly feeling his hand breaking. "Fuck!" He held his hand to his body. Blood began seeping from his hand to his clothing where it mixed with Warrick's blood. He turned around and slowly slid down the building until he was sitting, knee bent, on the ground. He looked from his hand to Warrick and continued to cry.

He wasn't aware of how long he sat there and cried. He cried until he ran out of tears. He watched as emergency personnel arrived on the scene. He looked up when he saw Ecklie approach. "Nick, I need your shirt."

Nick nodded. He began to undo the buttons, wincing in pain as the fingers of his broken hand maneuvered the buttons through the holes. He handed his shirt to Ecklie. Ecklie bagged the shirt and looked down at Nick, sympathetically. "I'm sorry Nick."

New tears began to form in his eyes. He nodded as he looked up at Ecklie. "Has anyone called Grissom yet?"

Ecklie shook his head. "Not yet. I was about to."

"Let me do it?"

Ecklie nodded. "I'll leave you alone to make your call."

"Ecklie?" He watched Ecklie look back down. He looked Ecklie in the eye. "Thanks."

Ecklie nodded before walking away.

Nick sat for a few moments before taking a deep breath and pulling his cell from his pocket with his good hand. He flipped it open and hit the speed dial.

* * *

Grissom opened his door and was greeted by an enthusiastic boxer. "Hey Hank." He patted the dog on the way to the couch.

He grabbed the portable phone as he sat down. He turned it on and hit the speed dial. He smiled when she answered on the first ring. "Hello beautiful."

He grinned as he told her Warrick had been released. As he talked, he allowed himself to let out all the emotions he had been harboring over the past couple of days. He felt relief as the weight fell off his shoulders. He told her he missed her and smiled when she repeated the sentiment. He was about to ask her how she was doing when the ringing of his cell phone interrupted their conversation. He looked down at the call display. "Sara, Nick's calling my cell. I'll have to call you back." He smiled as they both hung up reluctantly. He flipped open his cell. "Grissom." His smile and all the color dropped from his face as he listened to Nick's shaky voice on the other end. When Nick was finished speaking, he struggled to find his voice. He swallowed the lump in his throat. "I'll be right there."

Grissom pulled up to the diner and noticed the flurry of activity. The dayshift coroner was examining Warrick's body as it hung out of the car. The driver's side window was shattered, the passenger side, wide open. The Under Sheriff was barking orders, Ecklie was processing the scene and Nick was sitting bare-chested with his back leaning on the building. Then, he noticed was the detective. The detective on the scene was the same detective that had been assigned to the Gedda case.

Grissom stormed over to Ecklie. "Conrad, I want a different detective on this case."

Ecklie looked up at Grissom in shock. "He was only doing his job, Gil."

"I don't care, I want another detective."

Ecklie nodded. "I'll see what I can do. I'm really sorry Gil. The department will do everything we can."

Grissom looked down at Warrick before looking back to Ecklie. He shook his head slowly. "Thanks Conrad."

Grissom looked towards Nick and moved towards him, but was intercepted by the Under Sheriff. "Grissom, you can't process. You're too close. Dayshift will process."

"I'm not here to process."

"You shouldn't be here. Stokes already disturbed the scene by opening Brown's car door and holding his body. We don't need any more renegade CSI's making things even harder."

He wanted to yell, blow up at the Under Sheriff, but a quiet resignation took over. He shot the Under Sheriff a quick look before turning to see Nick talking to one of the dayshift CSIs. He headed over and crouched down beside Nick, listening to the young man describe to the CSI how he originally found Warrick's body. The CSI took notes before sympathetically looking over at Grissom and leaving the two men alone.

"Grissom, I'm sorry. I should've left with him."

"This isn't your fault Nick."

"I disturbed the scene."

"You were worried about Warrick."

"This isn't fair."

Grissom placed his hand on Nick's shoulder. "No, it isn't."

Grissom watched as Nick raised his hands up to his forehead. He noticed the dried up blood, caked on Nick's swollen hand. "Nick, what happened?"

"I punched a brick wall."

He gently took Nick's arm, examining the hand. "You need to get that checked out. It looks broken."

Nick sniffled and nodded. "I can't really feel it right now, you know?"

He nodded. He looked up and saw Ecklie standing over them. "Nick, I got you a shirt."

"Thanks."

Grissom stood up and helped Nick up along with him. "Nick, I want you to go to the hospital and get that hand checked out. I'll handle everything here okay? Get one of the officers here to drive you."

Nick nodded and headed towards one of the officers. Grissom turned back to Ecklie. "Can you tell me what you know so far?"

"So far we have no eye witnesses. Dark alley, first on the scene were Nick and a bunch of cops all eating at the diner. They ran out when they heard the shots."

"This place is surrounded by police and nobody could find the shooter? We suspect there was another mole in the department. It could be anybody here."

"There are cops going in and out of PD and the diner all the time. If the shooter is part of the department, he could have easily slipped into one of them without arousing suspicion."

"What about checking all of the firearms?"

Ecklie shook his head. "Who ever shot Warrick, dropped a gun on the passenger's seat. It was in a bag and it doesn't look department issued. The shooter would have been smart enough not to use a department issued weapon. We believe the gun on the seat was the gun used to shoot Warrick. We'll confirm with ballistics."

"Gun was probably wiped clean too?"

"Most likely. It hasn't been printed yet."

"Have you tested all of the officers for GSR?"

"Yes, everyone who was first on the scene. The only person with GSR on them was Stokes."

"Transfer?"

"Most likely. Witnesses all say that Stokes was at the diner when the shots were fired. He ran out and grabbed Warrick's body. We have no reason to believe otherwise."

Grissom ran his hand through his hair. "Anything else?" He watched Ecklie shake his head.

"That's all we know so far. We'll know more when we get the evidence back to the lab."

"Thanks Conrad."

Ecklie nodded. "Sure. You'll let the rest of your team know?"

He nodded and looked around. He saw Brass talking to one of the officers. "Looks like Jim already knows."

* * *

Jim looked at the scene and shuttered. He squeezed his eyes shut and thought back to a few hours before when he had told Warrick to remember how lucky he was. Not so lucky anymore. But Warrick had been lucky. He had been with the Crime Lab for eleven years. He should have been fired eight years ago, but Grissom and the team stood behind him and kept standing behind him right through to today. Everything had caught up with him, though and he was shot. Brass looked down at Warrick's body. "If only you hadn't been so intense, so self destructive. Sara moved past it; why couldn't you?" He had grown to respect Warrick over the years. Brass was so lost in his thoughts he never noticed Grissom approach. The sound of his name caused his head to snap up. "Jim."

"Gil."

"Jim, I need a favor." I need to let the team know what happened. I'm going to Catherine's. Greg is heading to LA to meet with an editor. I don't think he's flown out yet. I need you to try to get a hold of him. If he's in the terminal, he might have his cell off, so you'll need to go to the airport, stop him from getting on the plane, and give him the news."

Brass examined the weary face of the night shift supervisor. "Sure."

"Thanks."

He took a deep breath, unsure of how his next question would go over. "Gil, what about Sara?"

He was relieved when Grissom only sighed and swallowed before answering, "I'll call her when I get back from Catherine's."

"Do you want me to tell Catherine so you can call Sara right away?"

"No, I should tell Catherine. Besides, I need you to handle Greg."

"Shouldn't he hear it from you also?"

"Yes, but he's at or on his way to the airport and I don't have time to do both. Catherine should hear it first."

"Okay." He nodded and turned towards his car, pulling out his cell as he walked. After receiving no answer on Greg's cell, he called the airport, asking the manager to check all the airlines for Greg's reservation. When he found out the airline, he called them and asked them to stop Greg from boarding. He headed out to the airport.

* * *

Catherine was busy getting ready to drive Lindsay to school. When they were finally ready to go, Catherine walked to the front door and opened it. She was shocked to find Grissom standing outside getting ready to knock. She watched Lindsay slide past them. "I'll wait in the car."

"Yeah." She turned to Grissom. "Hey Gil, what are you doing here?" She looked at his pale face. "Grissom?"

"Cath, it's Warrick…"

The breath left her body. "What?"

"He was shot."

Catherine shook her head in disbelief. "No. What do you mean? We only left him a couple of hours ago."

She stood there while Grissom's hand came up and squeezed the bridge of his nose. "He was shot while seated in his car behind the diner."

She struggled to remain in control. At Grissom's next words, she lost it. "He's dead Catherine."

She stared at him before bursting into tears. She began to pound on his chest, forcefully at first, but gradually her punches lost their power. She felt his grab her wrists and pull her into a hug. She sobbed into his shoulder and he held her in the doorway.

When Greg was in the lab explosion, she felt guilty. When Nick was kidnapped, she realized the team was more important than her aspirations. When Brass was shot, she was terrified. When Sara was taken, she was too concerned about Grissom to feel what was happening. When Keppler died, it hurt. Warrick's death was killing her. She was in shock. She couldn't believe it. It couldn't be real. Her friend, the one-time subject of her fantasies, was killed. She burrowed further into Grissom until she felt Lindsay's hand on her back. "Mom?"

Catherine pulled herself from Grissom's arms and gathered Lindsay up in her own.

"Mom, what happened?"

She struggled to speak. Her throat was dry. Grissom spoke for her. "Lindsay, it's Warrick. He was killed this morning."

"Oh God." Lindsay wrapped her arms around her grieving mother. "Mom, I'm not going to school today. I'm going to stay home with you okay?" Catherine nodded and tightened her grip on her daughter.

"Mom, I'm also going to call grandma." She felt Lindsay pull from her grip. She released her daughter and fell back into Grissom's embrace. They stood there until Lindsay returned and grasped her hand. "Thanks uncle Gil, I'll take it from here."

Catherine barely registered Grissom's nod. She followed as Lindsay led her back into the house. Lindsay pulled her to the couch. She sat down and cried out her remaining tears in her daughter's embrace.

* * *

At first Greg was annoyed when the airline asked him not to board the plane. He grew worried when they led him to the manager's office and asked him to take a seat. When Brass walked in, looking distressed, Greg moved from worried to terrified.

"Brass, what's the meaning of this? Why did you stop them from boarding me? I have a meeting with my editor."

He watched Brass take a seat next to him. "Greg, Warrick was shot and killed this morning."

Greg jumped up in disbelief. "What? No. We just saw him." He watched Brass hang his head. His voice grew quiet. "When?"

"About two hours ago, as he was leaving the diner."

Greg sat back down and rested his head in his hands. "Who?"

"We don't know."

"No." He shook his head. "Everybody else survived when something bad happened to them. You, me, Nick, Sara. Why couldn't he?" He stood up again letting the anger rise in him. "Being framed wasn't enough? They had to kill him too?"

He paced around the room until Brass's hand on his shoulder stopped him. "Greg, if you get mad and hold onto this, you'll end up going down the same road as Warrick did."

Greg looked over at Brass and let the detective's fatherly wisdom calm him. "It's not right."

"Greg, when it is ever right?"

* * *

Sara was laying on her bed, flipping through a magazine when her cell phone rang. She looked down at the call display and smiled widely. She rolled onto her stomach as she answered the phone. "Gilbert, what took you so long? I've been waiting for you to call back." She grinned. "What happened? Did you get called to a crime scene?" When her questions met with silence, Sara sat up and pulled her knees to her chest. "Griss?" The silence disturbed her. "Gil? Gil, is something wrong?"

Her name. She finally got an answer. His voice quietly choked out her name. She closed her eyes and reopened them. "Tough case? Do you want to talk about it?" She heard him take a deep breath on the other end. No words accompanied it. She stood up. "Gil, you're scaring me." Then she heard it. His resigned voice. _Sara, Warrick died this morning._

"What?" She dropped the phone. She grew dizzy and found her legs couldn't support her any longer. She dropped to the floor, stopping her fall only by catching the bed and dresser with her hands on the way down. She steadied herself and picked up the phone. "How?"

She sat on the edge of the bed and listened as Grissom told her that someone walked up to Warrick's car and shot him point blank. She only felt minor relief at discovering that Warrick had died instantly.

Tears filled Sara's eyes as she listened to Grissom's account. She pulled her feet up onto the bed and grabbed a pillow, holding it to her chest and clutching her phone in the other hand. She never noticed when Grissom stopped talking. Her attention was drawn back to the phone after hearing him repeatedly call out her name.

"Sorry." She paused. "I was trying to process this." When he told her that he understood, she could almost picture him nodding. She tried to gather her thoughts. She took a deep breath. "Gil, I'm coming home."

His voice grew concerned on the other end. He asked her if she was ready. She sighed and admitted that she wasn't. "I don't have much of a choice. I need to be there." She smiled softly as he reluctantly agreed. She knew he was conflicted between wanting her in Vegas with him and wanting her to finish doing what she needed to do. "Look, I'll book the first flight out and call you with the details."

When he agreed, Sara whispered her goodbyes, promising to call him later. She closed the phone and wished she could have spoken to him longer, despite the trouble she was having trying to find something to say. She laid down and clutched her pillow, allowing the tears to spill from her eyes. She wished Grissom was with her, holding her, comforting her. The thought caused her tears to increase in their intensity. She allowed herself a good cry before sitting back up, flipping open her phone and calling the airline.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter Two

Nick sat silently in the hospital, staring at the wall over the doctor's shoulder. The doctor tried to engage Nick in conversation as he carefully cast Nick's hand. Nick remained silent, thinking about the three broken bones in his hand, thinking about Warrick. When the hospital discharged him, he went looking for the officer who had dropped him off, but the officer had left. He sighed. Normally, the first person he would call would be Warrick. Warrick would pick him up and offer him silent support, while he let Nick talk it out, but Nick couldn't call Warrick. He'd never be able to call Warrick again. The next person he would normally call would be Sara. She would talk him through it, calmly asking the right questions. He couldn't call her either. He thought about calling Grissom, but he decided he wouldn't know what to say to him. More than likely, Grissom would drive silently, refusing to speak. Besides, he thought, Grissom had more than enough to deal with at the moment. Nick looked down at the phone in his hands. He opened it up and dialed. "Hey Cath? It's Nick. I'm at the hospital…Desert Palms. Can you pick me up?"

He waited outside, sitting on the curb until he saw Catherine's car pull up. Slowly he opened the passenger door and took the seat next to her. He looked over at her. Her eyes were red and puffy and her cheeks were tear stained. It had been four and a half hours since he had found Warrick's body. He had cried the entire time. He wondered if Catherine had done the same. He gave her a sad smile. "Thanks Cath."

Nick watched as Catherine's eyes traveled down to his hand. "Nick, what happened?"

"I punched a wall." He shrugged his shoulders and watched her nod.

"When you found out about Warrick?"

"After I found his body."

Catherine looked over at him incredulously. Her eyes widened. "You were there?" He could only nod.

"What happened?"

Nick took a deep breath. "I was still in the diner when he left. We heard shots fired. I ran out and saw his car in the alley." He paused and choked back a sob. "I opened his car door and his body fell into my arms."

"Nick, I'm so sorry. I know what it's like when the body of someone you care about falls into your arms."

"Sam Braun was killed in front of you."

"Yeah."

"I'm sorry."

"Me too."

"Uh, yeah." He turned forward and looked down at his hand. "Cath, do you think we could stop by the pharmacy first. I have to pick up some painkillers. The hospital gave me a few, but told me to pick up some more." He pulled a prescription from his pocket.

"Sure." Catherine looked over at him. He was still facing forward, but he could feel her eyes on him. He was about to say something to break the uncomfortable silence when Catherine spoke first. "Where to afterwards?"

"Home, I guess."

"Alone?"

Nick nodded. "Yeah. It'll be alright. I promise not to punch any more walls."

"Why don't you stay with me for the next couple of days? We could pick up some things from your place before heading to mine."

"Are you sure?"

He was awarded a smile. "Yeah. You shouldn't be alone right now, and it would be a comfort to me if you were around. We all need family at a time like this."

Nick smiled at her. "Thanks Cath."

* * *

Grissom sat in his office trying to concentrate on the paperwork in front of him. He was trying to get his mind off of Warrick, but his thoughts kept wandering back to the limp body dangling out of the car. The more he thought about it, the angrier he became. He thought back to the young man he believed in, the man, who for so many years, seemed to be the glue that held the team together. Whenever he closed himself off, or Nick became too empathetic, Catherine too selfish or Sara too involved, Warrick had held them together. He was the rock, up until the past year when Nick began to fill that role and Warrick began to self destruct. Grissom cursed. In the past, he was the one to help Warrick through things. And where was he when Warrick needed him? He was too full of his own self pity to help. That realization fueled Grissom's anger even further.

He tried to push the thoughts to the back of his head and refocus on his paperwork. It all seemed so pointless and he was about to give up when a knock sounded on the door. He looked up and saw Ecklie looking meek and tentative in the doorway. It was a look he had never seen on Ecklie before. "Have you found anything out yet?"

Ecklie slowly sat down in the chair across from him. "The gun found in the car was the same gun used to kill Warrick. It was wiped clean, no usable prints. We're trying to trace the weapon but haven't come up with anything yet."

He was disappointed by the lack of information. He sighed. "Thanks Conrad." He looked back down at his paperwork.

"We're doing everything we can Gil, but if it was someone in the department, they could have slipped into the diner or PD or even joined the cops running out to the alley. At least ten cops ran out of that diner when the shots were fired."

"And none of them tested positive for GSR?"

"No."

"So the shooter just disappeared?"

"It looks that way. He could have just slipped into the building. Everyone around here was so confused as to what happened, we may not find anything, but we'll keep looking. We're still in the process of tracing the gun."

Grissom looked down at his watch. "Thanks. If you'll excuse me, there's somewhere I need to be." He stood up.

"You aren't going to try to conduct your own investigation, are you?"

He looked across at Ecklie, who was now staring him down. He dropped his head and shook it. "No, I won't compromise the investigation."

"Then where do you have to be Grissom?"

"Somewhere else." He brushed past Ecklie on his way out the door.

As he drove away from the crime lab, he was consumed by guilt. He had failed as a supervisor. He had let Warrick down. As he thought about everything he could have done to prevent Warrick's death, he grew angrier. He tried to hide his rage as he reached his destination, but it merely lay momentarily submerged.

* * *

She felt very tired as she carried her bag through hoards of people, looking for that one familiar face whose glance could ease her pain. Around her, family and friends were hugging as they greeted one another. Tourists were talking animatedly, excited to be in sin city. People were smiling, laughing, embracing. She still didn't see him. She walked closer to the exit and she saw him, leaning against news stand, searching through the crowd. He looked as tired as she felt. Her heart ached. She made her way towards him, stopping right in front of him and dropping her bag. Needing to feel him, she moved forward to embrace him. Before she could hug him, he reached down and picked up her bag. "Here, I'll take this."

Sara felt tears spring to her eyes. She nodded and when he turned and walked towards the exit, she followed. After placing her bags in the truck, Grissom moved to the passenger door and held it open for her, but he did not speak. She climbed in and watched him move around to the driver's side. He drove, looking straight forward.

She sat in the passenger seat, examining him. His shoulders sagged, his eyes were void of life, yet his breathing was not shallow or slow, but quick. She wanted to comfort him. She tentatively placed her hand on his forearm. When he only glanced down at it before looking back to the road, she withdrew the hand and placed it in her lap, looking down at it. "Gil, I…"

"Sara," he interrupted her. He looked over and his voice grew soft. She watched him struggle to speak. "Where were you planning on staying?"

Her head shot up. Panic set in. She had planned on staying with him, but his question threw her off balance. She looked over at him, trying to figure out what he had meant. Was he trying to keep her comfortable, or did he not want her to stay with him? A look of despair crossed her face as she realized he had asked where, not asking her to go home with him. The tears that had been resting in her eyes began to descend down her cheeks. She turned her head and looked forward, steadying her voice. "I, uh, I guess I'll get a hotel room."

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw him nod. "Okay. Any one in particular?"

She shook her head. He drove her to the Golden Spike Hotel and Casino. "It's close to PD and the rates are reasonable, so it should be convenient for you."

"Thanks." Sara exited the car. She went in and talked to the man at front desk. After registering for a room, she made her way back out to the car, stopping outside the passenger door. "They have a room, so I guess I'll stay here." She paused and looked at him through the open window. "Do you want to come up? I think we need to talk."

He shook his head. "Not right now."

"Will you call me later to talk?" When he didn't respond, she looked at him. "Why won't you speak to me?"

"I can't right now."

"Gil…" She opened the door and sat down.

"Sara, this isn't the time. I need to be alone. I need to process everything. Warrick is dead." His voice rose at each word he said. She saw his knuckles turn white as he gripped the steering wheel.

"I am very much aware of that Grissom, but I'm scared. I don't like the way you are shutting me out right now. I need to talk to you."

"Okay." His voice grew quiet and even. "If you need to talk, then talk."

"I need to know what's going on with you…with us. We used to find comfort in each other when we needed to deal with things."

"You never looked to me for comfort six months ago."

She sighed. "No, I'm sorry, but I thought we worked through all of that."

Grissom turned towards her. His voice remained even. "You thought you could just come back here and pick up where we left off, everything between us would be alright? Did you think you could just act like nothing happened, like it didn't nearly kill me when you left?"

"Gil, that's not fair. That's not what I thought."

"Not fair Sara? You left me. You walked out on us, and why? Because life got tough? That's not a reason Sara. God, after all the time it took us to get together." His voice dropped off as he spoke the last words.

Sara felt her anger rising. "It took so long to get together because of you Grissom, not me, you."

Grissom's voice grew sharp. He glared at her. "You're going to bring that up? That's history."

She steeled herself. "That history is relevant."

"Fine. You want to blame me for the time it took us to get together? It took us so long to get together because we weren't ready, not just me Sara. You weren't ready either. You had to work through some issues, but we moved past those issues, your issues, my issues and we were together, facing things together. Then you left. You had to go it all alone. Well, you should be able to go it all alone now too. You don't need me." Grissom's shoulder's dropped. His head fell against the steering wheel.

Sara looked over at him. She began to plead. "I was scared. I was afraid of breaking down in front of you."

He lifted his head. "No, I don't believe that. You weren't scared of the breaking down. You were scared that I would reject you." His statement caused her anger to rise further. It began to match his. And, almost as if he could sense it, "And now you're mad because you know it is partially true."

"So you're a mind reader now? You've never been able to read people before Grissom. Don't pretend that you can now. You have no idea what I felt then, or what I feel now."

"No, I didn't know what you were feeling. You never told me. You just left. You didn't even have the courage to tell me."

"I had to leave."

"You could have spoke to me, told me you were leaving. No, you left a note. I understood why you left, I really did, but I still don't understand why you left the way you did. I didn't understand where I stood with you. I still don't. The team never knew where they stood. You just disappeared. Warrick needed you. He needed me and I was too absorbed in my own self pity to help him."

"So this is my fault? Go to hell Grissom." She stepped out of the door and turned back to look at him. "Why are you acting like this? Why now Grissom?"

She watched the anger play across his face. His voice grew loud, startling her. "Because Sara, if you hadn't left, Warrick might not be dead."

She was stunned into silence. When she found her voice, it was flat. "I can't believe you just said that." She turned and ran up to her hotel room.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter Three

Catherine woke up clinging to her pillow. She took a few minutes to lay and hold on before getting up and heading into the shower. She let the water wash over her, standing still in the spray until the water turned cold. She shivered and stepped out of the shower, toweling off before heading back into her room. She dressed and headed out to the living room.

She smiled sadly as she noticed Nick asleep on the could. Lindsay was leaning up against him, quietly offering him her silent support. Catherine sat down next to her daughter. She spoke softly. "He's asleep?"

"Yeah. I didn't want to wake him by moving. I've been sitting here reading."

"Lindsay, you've been really great all day." She whisked away a strand of her daughter's hair.

"He looked really lost when you guys came home."

Catherine smiled and kissed her daughter's forehead. "You hungry?"

Lindsay nodded. "Grandma's in the kitchen making sandwiches." Catherine felt her daughter shift so that Lindsay was leaning against her instead of Nick. She placed her arm around Lindsay and drew her closer. Nick stirred.

"Hey."

Nick rubbed his eyes. "Hey."

"Sleep well?" She watched him nod.

"Apparently my mom's in the kitchen making sandwiches if you're hungry."

"Great."

Catherine looked over at her daughter and at Nick. "After we eat, I'm heading into lab. Nick, you can stay here with Lindsay and my mom and get some more rest."

"I can come in."

She looked down at his arm and shook her head. "No, you can't. Stay here."

"I need to do something." Nick looked at her, pleading with his eyes.

"Nick," she reached behind her daughter and placed her hand gently on his arm, "we won't be able to do anything on Warrick's case and Grissom will just send you home anyways."

Nick sighed. "You're right." He stood up and pulled Lindsay and Catherine up with him. "Come on, let's eat."

After eating, Catherine slowly made her way to the Crime Lab. She walked through the halls, stopping outside of Grissom's closed door. She paused before knocking. She heard his come in and slowly opened the door, taking a seat across from him. He looked up at her. "Catherine, what are you doing here?"

"I came to help cover shift."

"You can go home. Greg called. He's coming in. He and I will cover shift."

"You got a hold of Greg before he flew to LA?"

"Brass caught him at the airport."

Catherine studied him. He looked tired and worn and…defeated. She opened her mouth to speak but shut it quickly. When he raised his eyebrows at her she found her nerve. "Does Sara know?"

She watched him swallow. He looked up at her and sighed. "Yeah, I called her this morning."

"Is she coming here?"

"She's here. She caught a flight in this afternoon."

Catherine reached across the desk and placed her hand on his arm. "Gil, go home. I'll cover shift with Greg."

"I've got it Catherine."

"Go home to Sara."

He looked up and sighed. "She's not there."

"What do you mean? Where is she?"

"She's staying in a hotel."

"What? Why?" Catherine's voice rose. "Why are you letting her stay in a hotel?"

She noticed him glance down at his desk before looking back up at her. "I don't want to talk about it Catherine."

"Grissom…"

"Go home Catherine."

She stood up, looked at him and gave him a pointed stare. She turned to the door but spun around to face him. "You are some piece of work." She stormed out of the office.

When she arrived back home, she was shaking. Lily, Nick and Lindsay looked at her curiously from their seats in the kitchen. Nick stood up and placed his hands on her shoulders. "What are you doing home Catherine?"

"Grissom sent me home. He and Greg are covering shift."

Nick dropped his hands and looked at her. "How is Grissom doing?"

"Grissom's an idiot." She brushed by him and made her way into her bedroom.

No sooner had Catherine shut her door when she heard a soft knock. She watched the door open slowly. Nick peered in. "Cath?" She looked up at him with fresh tears in her eyes. "You okay?" She nodded.

Nick stepped into the room and closed the door behind him. "Cath, I was thinking…we should call everybody and have them come here after shift so we can all be together."

"Yeah sure, call Brass and Greg. They can come for breakfast."

"And Grissom?"

She looked up at him from her seat on the bed. "Don't call Grissom. He deserves to be alone."

Nick sat down next to her on the bed. "What happened at the lab Cath?"

"Sara's back."

Nick stood up quickly. "She is? Did you see her? How is she?"

"Nick, stop. I didn't see her. Grissom told me."

"So he'll want to go home to her rather than come here. I can understand that. You can't be mad at him for that."

Catherine looked up at him and shook her head. "No Nick. He's going to go home alone. Sara's not there. She's staying in a hotel."

Nick sat back down. "Why?"

She stood up quickly. "It's Grissom, who the hell knows? He sure wouldn't tell me. He didn't even tell me what hotel. I can't believe he's letting her stay in a hotel."

Nick stood up and faced her. "It's Sara, you know, maybe that's what she wanted."

"I don't care. I don't care whose idea it was, whose fault it is. He should drag her home. I'm getting tired of his attitude."

Nick grasped her hand. "So, is she back, back, or did she just come back because of Warrick?"

Catherine sighed. "I don't know Nicky."

* * *

Grissom sat in his office, thinking about everything that had happened earlier in the afternoon. He had never meant to say any of those things to Sara. He knew he was wrong, but he was angry and he had gotten himself all worked up and the words came out before he could stop them. He had wanted to go after her, tell her he was sorry, try and take back all of his awful words, hold onto her and finally grieve Warrick's death, but she looked so hurt and so livid when she ran into the hotel. He knew she wouldn't listen to him then. He also knew he was too consumed by guilt and anger at the moment to give her a decent apology. So, instead of going after her, he drove back to the crime lab where he found himself sitting behind his desk, replaying the scene over and over in his head.

When Greg arrived at the lab, he sent Greg out to a B&E. He stayed in his office and tried to focus on his paperwork. Miraculously, half way through shift, he discovered that despite his wandering mind, he had made some progress. Another hour had passed when he noticed Brass enter the office. "Thank God for a slow night."

He looked up. "Hi Jim. Thanks for hunting down Greg."

"No problem. Did you call Sara?" Grissom nodded.

"Is she coming home?"

"She's here."

Brass sat down across from him. "Look, it's a slow night. Why don't you go home, make love to the woman you love, hold onto her, show her you need her…get her out of that hotel she's staying in."

Grissom's head shot up. "How did you know?"

He watched Brass shrug. "Catherine called. She may have vented a little."

Grissom grew angry at Brass's words. His voice was level. "If you knew, why did you ask about Sara?"

Brass shrugged again. "I wanted to see what you'd give up. Catherine said…"

"It's none of Catherine's business," he shot back.

"She's just looking out for you."

Grissom turned away, trying to tune out Brass, but the detective kept going. "Look, I don't know what happened between you and Sara, but I do know she shouldn't be alone in a hotel right now. She needs you and you need her too. Stop being a stubborn ass and go get her."

He sighed and turned back towards Brass. "I don't think she'll talk to me. I was out of line with her and I said some terrible things."

"My, my, surprise, surprise. You better try to smooth things out before you lose her for good."

He knew Brass was right. He sighed again and began to gather up the files on his desk. "You'll call if something comes up?"

"Somebody else will cover it. Go home."

Grissom stood up. "Thanks Jim."

He rushed through the halls and out the lab. Getting in his truck, he drove the short distance to the hotel. He flashed his ID at front desk to get her room number. After riding the elevator up and finding her room, he stopped outside her door and knocked. Moments later, the door crept partially open. Her head peeked out. He watched her sigh and open the door the rest of the way. He felt her cool stare emanating from her red eyes. He knew she had been crying. What he didn't know was whether the tears came from Warrick's death or from him.

Grissom stepped past her and picked up her still packed bag. "Come on, you can't stay here."

Sara ripped the bag from his hands and threw it on the floor. "I can. What does it matter to you anyways?"

"Sara, please, just listen."

He winced at her gaze. "This better be good Grissom."

He stepped towards her and touched his fingertips together in front of him. "Sara, I'm sorry. I was angry and hurt and I felt guilty for Warrick's death. I lashed out at you. I didn't mean to. I didn't mean anything I said. Please come home."

He watched her shake her head, tears falling from her eyes. "No, maybe you were right. Maybe everything you said was true."

"No Sara." He couldn't believe how defeated she sounded. He closed the space between them and wrapped his arms around her. "You can't blame yourself for everything that has happened. This was not your fault. I'm sorry for telling you that it was. That was very insensitive of me. I know how hard you are on yourself; I shouldn't have given you a reason to become even more critical."

"Maybe if I was here I could have helped him…you would have helped him. I should have been here."

"Sara, no. Warrick made his own choices. He chose to hang onto something he should have let go of, and he was murdered for it. You couldn't have done anything. Come home, please."

Sara sighed. She stepped back from his grasp. "Are you really sure you want me to come home?"

"No, I need you to come home."

He watched as she studied him. "Okay, but this doesn't fix everything." Suddenly she was back in his arms, holding on tight. Her face was buried in his shoulder, moistening it with her tears.

He tilted her head up and gazed into her eyes. "I know."

When they arrived home, Sara took her bag and placed it in the guest room. She paused and looked at him apologetically. "I'm…I'm not sure that after everything that happened today, after the way you reacted, if I'm ready to share a bed with you yet. I'm sorry."

He smiled softly. "I understand."

She turned to the room but turned back quickly. "I just need to know we're okay first."

"We will be." He placed a hand on her shoulder. "Can I get you something to eat?"

She shook her head. "I'm fine. I think I'll just try to get some sleep."

"Have you slept at all yet?"

"No, I couldn't earlier." She bit her bottom lip.

"Okay." He leaned forward and softly kissed her cheek. When the door closed, he walked into the kitchen and opened the fridge. He didn't know how long he stared at it's contents before shutting the door. He moved to his sofa where he laid down and began to flip through a magazine. He felt restless on the sofa. He moved to his bed to try to get some sleep. He tossed and turned and ended up staring at empty space next to him. Finally, he found his way to the guest room. He opened the door and quietly watched Sara sleep. He tip-toed over to the edge of the bed and carefully lowered himself down beside her. When he placed his hand on her arm and felt her trembling, he knew she wasn't asleep. He laid down beside her and gathered her into his arms. She curled into him. He held her tightly as he closed his eyes and drifted off to sleep beside her.

* * *

Greg felt dead on his feet by the time shift ended. He made his way to his car and fell into the seat. He wiped his eyes in an effort to stay awake. Slowly, he turned the key and drove straight to Catherine's. Arriving at her house, he parked, walked up the step and knocked, wearily, on the door. He waited for the door to open, and when it did, Lily gave him a sympathetic smile. She ushered him inside.

Hearing voices in the kitchen, Greg followed the sounds and noticed Lindsay, Catherine and Nick laying out breakfast. They grabbed some plates and began dishing up. Catherine handed him a plate. "Good morning Greg."

He rubbed his palm over his forehead. "Good morning guys. Thanks for the invite."

"No problem." Nick smiled at him. "You look tired. Have you gotten any sleep yet?"

Greg shook his head. He began to fill his plate. "Not yet. I spent yesterday trying to reschedule my meeting with my editors. When I was finally able to do that, I had to reschedule my flights and rebook my days off. Then, I covered shift. I had a B&E and I doubt we will ever catch the guy. Then, to top it off, Grissom left and I had to cover the remaining few hours of shift alone. Thankfully nothing big came up."

"Wait, Grissom left?" Nick looked over at him incredulously.

"Yeah. I got back from my crime scene and Judy told me that Grissom went home. I ran into Brass and asked him about it. He told me not to disturb Grissom."

Greg watched as Catherine and Nick exchanged glances.

"I wonder…"

"Do you think?"

"God, I hope so…"

He looked at them. "Can someone tell me what is going on?"

He watched Nick and Catherine exchange another glance. He waited until Nick spoke. "Sara's back."

"Oh," Greg popped a piece of his bagel into his mouth. After swallowing, he continued, "so he went home to her then."

"We hope so."

Greg put down his plate. "Well, let's go see them or call them over. I want to see Sara."

He felt Nick's hand on his shoulder. "We don't know if Sara's with him. Besides Greg, if he did leave work to see her then we should give them some time alone. Sara will call when she's ready to see us."

Greg reluctantly agreed. He finished eating the food on his plate. "Oh, Brass said he'd be by in a bit." He placed the empty plate in the sink and yawned. "Mind if I take a nap? Can you wake me when Brass gets here?" Catherine nodded and led him to Lindsay's room.

"Here, you can nap here. Lindsay won't mind."

"Thanks."

"Greg, did anyone at the lab say anything about the funeral?"

He shook his head. "Grissom probably knows something. You can ask him."

Catherine nodded and closed the door as she exited. Greg laid down on the bed and looked up at the ceiling. After an extremely long day and night, he finally allowed himself the time to process everything that had happened in the past twenty four hours.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter Four

Images floated through his head: a gun being raised, a shot fired, a dead CSI, a young Holly Gribbs lying dead at a crime scene. Next image: a gun being raised, a shot fired, an alley, Warrick's body dangling from his car. The next image, the most familiar image: a hotel room, a frightened young woman sitting on the bed, and the man holding the gun, Willie Cutler, a man whose name he'd never forget. The gun was pointed at him, and suddenly it wasn't. He was watching from the side. The gun was pointed at Gil as Gil calmly tried to negotiate with Cutler. Then, Gil disappeared and the gun was pointed at Catherine. Her stance was defiant, daring Cutler to shoot, giving Cutler a look that said, "Go ahead, you don't have the balls." Cutler never shot; Catherine disappeared. Then, Nick took Catherine's place, and he could see the tears in the young CSI's eyes, pleading for his life. The images kept flashing, repeating earlier scenes, mixing in more scenes of other people he had once been responsible for. Suddenly the gun fired. He looked down. He held the smoking gun. He let the gun drop as the next image assaulted his mind: a young officer Bell fell to the ground before him.

Brass was jolted awake. He quickly sat up and ran his hand over his face. He took a deep breath and tried to slow his breathing. He looked at the clock and cursed. He wasn't accustomed to nightmares. He had learned long ago to let things go. Years on the job had hardened him. While he still remembered the mistakes he had made, he never held onto them. He had never had trouble sleeping. He looked around the dark room and wiped the sweat from his brow. The nightmare he just experienced unsettled him.

He tossed and turned but failed in his attempt to fall asleep again. He decided to get a drink from the kitchen. Thinking scotch might calm his nerves, he poured himself a shot and let the amber liquid ease down his throat. He placed the glass in his sink and looked around the dark house. He wondered why he had chosen to come home rather than taking Catherine up on her offer for breakfast. After initially accepting, he phoned back and told Catherine he decided to sleep instead. He realized that was a mistake. Drinking the rest of the scotch, he dressed and grabbed his keys.

Catherine smiled at him as she opened the door. "Jim, you decided to come after all."

He returned the smile with a smirk. "I know I missed breakfast, but I was hoping I'd be in time for lunch." He watched as she opened the door wide for him to enter. He walked into the house and made his way into the living room, taking a seat next to Nick on the couch. "Where's young Greg?"

Catherine left the room leaving Nick to answer. "Sleeping in Lindsay's room. He needed a nap."

"Oh. Where's Lindsay?"

"She went for groceries with Lily."

Brass leaned back against the sofa and closed his eyes. He heard a noise and reopened them. Greg was stumbling sleepily into the living room with Catherine following. Greg grabbed a pillow from the sofa and lay down on the floor. Catherine took a seat on her recliner chair.

"Jim, do you know what's going on with Warrick's investigation?"

He shook his head. "Things are really tense at PD right now. Everyone has been uneasy since the shooter disappeared right under their noses. I think they realize the shooter could be a cop."

"Nick, what did you see?"

"It was confusing. Cops were going everywhere. All I saw was Warrick."

Brass nodded. "That is what everyone is saying; it was confusing. It could be anyone. Grissom asked Ecklie to try to keep the investigation quiet, but every cop who was at the diner knows something is going on."

He watched Catherine as she shook her head. "Has it hit the media yet?"

"You haven't heard?" He looked at the three sets of eyes watching him intently. They shook their heads. "You may not want to hear this."

Nick faced him and stared him down, eyes alight. "Hear what Brass? We want to know what's going on. We haven't heard a damn thing."

He sighed. "The media isn't painting Warrick as a fallen CSI. Instead, they've painted him as a former CSI, recently released from police custody after being suspected in the murder of Lou Gedda. They stated the Warrick was murdered in an alley shortly after his release. They've made it sound like Warrick was involved in Gedda's murder and was killed in order to silence him, old Vegas, old mob style execution. The media got wind of the passenger window being open, suggesting that he knew his killer."

Nick jumped off the couch and raised his fist. Brass jumped off after him and caught Nick's arm. He shoved Nick back onto the couch. "Calm down, Cowboy. Look at your hand. Remember the last time you hit something?"

"This is bullshit. Warrick wasn't charged. He wasn't involved. How dare they release that story? Warrick deserves more respect than that."

"You know how the media paints things, Nick. They are trying to increase their ratings and it's Vegas, the exploitation is always worse here."

"I don't care. It's not right. Warrick was a good man."

Brass tried to think of something to say but came up empty. He agreed with Nick; it was bullshit. He opened his mouth to speak, but closed it as he saw Catherine move from the chair to sit next to Nick. She squeezed Nick's shoulder. "We know he was, Nick." Relieved that she had stepped in, Brass smiled down at her. She looked up at him and glared. "Has Grissom torn into the news stations yet?"

He shook his head. "I don't know. I don't think he's heard."

"Greg said he left shift early."

Brass sat down in the chair Catherine had vacated. "He did. I sent him home."

Greg sat up and grumbled from the floor. "Like he actually listened to you."

"For once he did."

He heard Greg mumble something under his breath. Then, Greg looked straight at him. "Brass, where's Sara?"

"I don't know Greg."

"When did she get back?"

"I don't know."

"Is she with Grissom?"

"Greg, I don't know."

"She should be here with us."

"Enough." He glared down at Greg. "If she was ready to see you Greg, she'd call; she'd be here. Until then, deal with it." He turned and looked at Catherine. "I'm sure Grissom will deal with media as soon as he finds out. Until then, you'll have to sit on it."

Catherine glared at him. "I'll tear into them first."

"I'm with you Cath."

Brass sighed and attempted to joke them out of their idea. "Great, we'll all tear into them together. We can make a game of it. Until then, can we just, I don't know, cool down?"

They stared at him. He was glad when he heard the front door open. He peeked into the kitchen where Lily and Lindsay were unloading groceries. "At least long enough to eat?"

Catherine smiled at him. "Why not? I can't tear into anyone on an empty stomach anyways."

* * *

Sara opened her eyes and was momentarily confused by the weight across her back. She turned her head, looked to the other side of the bed and saw Grissom laying next to her with his arm slung across her back. She vaguely remembered curling into his arms earlier that morning. She shifted to face him. The movement under his arm caused Grissom to stir. She stared at him as she watched his eyes flutter open and shut. He rubbed his thumb and index finger over his eyes and the bridge of his nose before looking back at her. "Hey." He ran his hand through his hair. "I'm sorry…I didn't mean to fall asleep here…I shouldn't have…not after yesterday."

Sara put her finger to his lips. "Don't." She smiled softly. "I missed waking up to you."

"Sara, I'm sorry."

Sara gazed at him and ran her hand down his arm. "Where are we?" She watched him sigh.

"I don't know. I'd like to think that we're okay, but after the way I acted yesterday, I don't know if we are." He sighed again and grasped her hand. "Sara, I never blamed you. I blamed myself. I was feeling so damn guilty and angry and I took it out on you. After everything that happened, I'm actually relieved you left all those months ago."

"Yesterday, when you said those things…"

She felt the words build up inside her and she knew she was about to rattle on. Grissom stopped her. "Sara, did you know that out off all of us, you and Warrick were the most alike?"

She raised her eyebrows. "Me and Warrick?"

"Yeah, for the most part. I mean you and I are the most alike socially and intellectually, but I think you and Warrick are the most alike emotionally. You both shared the same intensity. It was scary at times. You both had the most potential, and consequently, the most to lose. After Warrick died, I realized that you could have, very easily, gone down the same path. You could have became obsessed with catching Hanna West, but you stopped yourself. You knew that the next case, or the case after that could completely undo you. You let it go. I am so proud that you were able to let it go. You faced so many things that could have destroyed you, but you moved past them. Leaving may have saved you."

"You were so angry."

"Sara, I was angry at myself. I should have been there for Warrick but all I could think about was how you left me. I felt like Warrick didn't have a right to fall apart while I had to hold it all together. I knew he was getting a divorce and I felt like he wanted to lean on me because he felt like we were going through the same thing and all I could think about was how dare he, how could he compare that hasty loveless marriage he got himself involved in with what you and I shared."

"Gil, he loved her."

"I know. I just never believed he was really in love with her. I think he was seeking stability more than anything. I guess when they divorced, he lost his stability."

Sara sighed and placed her hand on his cheek. She spoke softly. "You grew the beard back."

"Yeah."

She took a deep breath. "Gil, I was thinking about everything you said yesterday…"

"Sara," he interrupted her.

"Wait, let me finish. I thought about what I said to you and what you said to me and you were right. I shouldn't have said it was your fault we took so long to come together. You were right; we weren't ready yet."

She watched his mouth form a half smile. He looked down at his hand as it ran down her arm. "And now?"

Sara peeked down to meet his eyes. "I love you Gil. I'm ready to spend the rest of my life with you."

Grissom's smile grew larger. His hand came up and smoothed her hair. "Me too."

Sara sighed and continued to stroke his cheek. "And you were right when you said that I shouldn't have left the way I did. I should have talked it out with you, but I was scared and I took the cowards way out. And you were right when you said I was afraid of rejection. Part of me feared you wouldn't want to deal with a broken down me, or you'd be so angry at me leaving that you'd tell me to get the hell out of your life. I was afraid you wouldn't understand, even though I knew you would. I thought if I left you with that note and you didn't understand, then at least I wouldn't have to see your face. I'm so sorry."

Grissom moved closer to Sara and squeezed onto her hand. "Sara, when I read the letter, I knew how hard it was for you. I knew how hard you were fighting. I would have stood by you through anything. I would have let you go because I want you to be happy, more than anything. If you had asked me to come, I would have done that too. That was how I initially knew I was ready for a relationship with you. I began thinking about you more than about me. I was ready to do anything to make you happy. And I knew you were ready for a relationship with me when you let me go."

Tears welled up in Sara's eyes. She closed them and felt Grissom brush the tears away. Grissom continued speaking softly. "The only part of the letter I had a problem with was the goodbye. I felt like I'd never see you again. It was so final. It was heart breaking. I can't say goodbye to you."

She smiled. "Yeah, I kind of got that from the frantic phone call."

He smiled softly. "Sara, whatever you have to do, wherever you have to go, please, just don't say goodbye."

Sara let the tears slide down her cheek. "Thank you."

"For what?"

"For being you."

He smiled and sat up. "Come on, we should eat. I haven't had anything to eat since early yesterday morning and I'm willing to bet you haven't either." He pulled her up off the bed and she followed him into the kitchen.

Sara grabbed an orange from the fruit bowl and sat down at the table, peeling the orange. Grissom sat across from her. "Catherine and Brass both know you're here. I'm willing to bet that the rest of the team does too by now."

Sara stopped peeling and looked up at him. She was frozen in her spot. "Oh?"

"Do you think you're ready to see them yet?"

"I…I don't know. I don't know what to say to them."

"I don't think you'll have to worry about that. If they ask you questions, you can choose to answer the ones you want. I'll be right here for support or to deflect any questions away."

Sara smiled. "Maybe tomorrow?"

"Sure. What do you want to do today?"

She grinned. "I want to spent the day with you."

* * *

Grissom flipped on the TV to listen to the news as he cleaned the kitchen. He saw Sara frozen in the doorway, staring at the TV screen. "Sara?"

"Gil, come here."

He walked to the doorway and stood beside her. He watched the news silently as it ran the story on Warrick. As the story continued, Grissom found himself moving into the living room to sit. When it was finished, he closed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose.

"Gil?"

Grissom opened his eyes and saw Sara kneeling in front of him. Her hands came to rest of his knees. "Sara, I have to go to the lab."

Sara nodded. "I'll finish cleaning up the kitchen. You go have a shower and get dressed."

He nodded before heading towards the bathroom. Twenty minutes later, he entered the living room and found Sara sitting on the sofa. "Hey. I'm ready to go. Do you want to come with me?" She shook her head. "Okay." He smiled at her. "Stay here, have a bath, relax. I'll try to be back soon." Sara stood up and walked him to the door. He turned and looked at her. "Sara, please don't go anywhere."

"I'll be right here when you get back."

He placed a soft kiss on her cheek and walked out the door. "I'll see you later."

Grissom arrived at the lab and stormed into Ecklie's office. Surprised, Ecklie looked up at him. "Grissom, I'm glad you're here, thought I didn't care for the entry. You need to control your team."

"You need to control what information hits the news. That story they ran was completely irresponsible. Now, what about my team?" Grissom sit down and stared across the desk at Ecklie.

"Willows and Stokes phoned a couple of the news stations and shot their mouths off over the story. You need to make sure they know they aren't to talk to the media and that I will handle it. I should suspend them and I would if it weren't for the circumstances."

Grissom was shocked as he listened to Ecklie rattle on. "I'll take care of them."

"Good. Let me do my job."

He leaned forward and sighed. "How did that story get on the news?"

"I don't know. There must be a leak. They have details. They know Warrick was shot at close range. They know the passenger side window was open."

"Conrad, you need to keep this quiet and find the leak."

Ecklie leaned back in his chair. "You need to keep your CSIs quiet before they make matters worse. I don't think I need to remind you of what we are dealing with."

"I'll head to Catherine's and speak to her as soon as I leave here."

"Anything else?"

"Find anything new?"

"No. We couldn't trace the gun. We're looking back through the Gedda case to see if we can find anything there."

"Great." His voice dripped with sarcasm. He stood to leave.

"Gil, about Warrick's memorial service…"

Grissom turned back and looked down at Ecklie. "Yes, when is it?"

"I don't know. As of right now, the county is refusing to pay for it. They are treating him like a murdered man rather than a CSI. Apparently all the bad press…"

He leveled a gaze at Ecklie. "Conrad, that's completely unacceptable. Warrick was a good man and a good criminalist. He doesn't have any family. His grandmother raised him and she passed away a few years ago. The county has to pay for the burial. Warrick deserves a respectable funeral."

"I'll see what I can do." Grissom nodded. "Gil, when you talk to your team, let them know they have the next few nights off, but they'll be on call. Swing and Days will try to cover Grave."

Grissom left the lab and drove to Catherine's. He was furious by the time he approached the house. He walked up the steps and brazenly knocked on the door. Catherine opened it and indicated for him to enter. "Grissom? Come in."

He walked into the kitchen and found Nick and Greg sitting at the table. "Good, you're all here. Now you can explain to me what the hell you were thinking when you decided to phone the local news stations."

"Grissom, they presented a story that was completely untrue."

Grissom looked down at Nick and narrowed his eyes. "Nick, what happened the last time you opened your mouth to the media?" Nick was silent. Grissom continued, "Look, I know you are angry and I know the story is bad, but tipping off the media to the fact we are looking internally would be much worse. Do you want to compromise the investigation? Do you want to tip off the high powered mole in the department? Control your emotions and let Ecklie handle the media."

Catherine narrowed her gaze at him from her spot beside him. "What about your emotions Grissom? Where's Sara?"

Grissom ignored her and turned to the door. Greg's voice stopped him. "What did you do to Sara now, Grissom?"

He spun around and looked at Greg. "Greg, what goes on between Sara and me is none of your business. Remember that in the future." He turned to Nick. "What about you, do you have anything to say? I haven't heard from you on the subject." Nick shook his head. "Good." He looked at Nick and Catherine. "You two know better than that talk to the media. I expected more out of you. Ecklie almost suspended you. As for now, we all have the next few nights off, on call. I would like it if you came for breakfast tomorrow and we could discuss a few things." He turned and walked to the door.

He reached the door and realized that Catherine had followed. "Gil, I'm sorry. We'll all be there tomorrow."

"Good."

"What about Sara? Will she be there?"

"That is up to Sara." He walked out the door and got into his car.

Three hours had passed since he left his place. He opened his front door and watched as Sara rushed into the room and stopped before him. "Hey, you're back. You were gone quite awhile."

He remained quiet as he took off his shoes. He looked into Sara's eyes. She smiled softly at him. "Are you okay?"

He nodded and stepped towards her. He lifted his hand and brought it under her hair to the back of her neck. He drew her body towards his and rested his other hand on the small of her back. He felt her head fall to his shoulder and her arms snake up under his and rest on his back. He pulled her closer and held her in the doorway.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter Five

It was Lily's room when she stayed over. The walls were a light peach and bare except for a framed 8X10 photo of the three generations of women. Lindsay was about five in the picture. The only other picture in the room was on the nightstand. It was a picture of Lily and Catherine with Sam Braun. Besides the nightstand, the room held a lamp and a small dresser. There was a bookshelf across from the bed.

Nick had spent the last four hours trying, of and on, to sleep. Between the bouts of sleep, he spent his time staring at the bookshelf, counting the books and categorizing each of them. There were thirty-four in total. Twenty-eight of them were, he guessed, harlequin romance novels. The remainder were general fiction, and in his mind, cheesy novels, written by authors such as Judith Guest or Colleen McCullough. He wondered if the books were Lily's or Catherine's. He was especially curious about the harlequins. He laughed as he decided that they were probably Catherine's secret guilty pleasure, a secret she hid in her mother's room so that no one would know she read them. He grinned at the thought.

As amusing as it was to ponder Catherine's reading material, he was restless and wanted to read something that could relax him and help him fall back to sleep. He tried to will some other novels to show up even if he knew it wasn't possible. He looked back to the bookshelf. The lone male author was Nicholas Sparks. He sighed; reading Nicholas Sparks was as bad as reading the rest of the books on the bookshelf. They all contained sappy romance fiction. What he wouldn't do for a Zane Grey or Louis L'amour at the moment.

He tried, once again, to go back to sleep. He closed his eyes and tried to clear his head. When he opened his eyes again, he was surprised to find that he had managed to sneak in another half hour of sleep. He made some calculations in his mind and figured that of the four and a half hours he had spent in bed, he probably slept for two and a half of those. The other two had been spent staring at that bookshelf, tossing and turning.

The tossing and turning had been hard on his fractured hand. The pain killers had worn off and his hand was sore. He knew he wouldn't be able to go back to sleep with the pain. He climbed out of bed and headed to the kitchen to grab some water and another pain killer. When he entered the kitchen, he saw Lindsay sitting at the table, doing what looked like homework and mumbling under her breath. Catherine was standing, facing away from him. Her elbows rested on the counter; her head rested in her hands. She didn't seem to notice him enter. Nick cleared his throat to get her attention without scaring her. He stepped towards her as she turned and looked at him. "Hey Cath, what are you doing up?"

He watched her sigh. "I couldn't sleep. How about you?"

"I couldn't sleep either. Plus, the hand's getting sore. Time for another pain killer." He reached behind her and grabbed a glass from the cupboard, filling it with water from the tap. He remembered his earlier thoughts and smirked to himself. "You know, I thought I'd try reading for awhile. Interesting selection you have in your guest room."

"Oh, those. They're my mother's."

Nick had to bite back a laugh. Instead of grinning, like he wanted to, he merely nodded. "I see." He swallowed his pill and took a drink of water. "Is Greg asleep?"

"He went back to his place to grab some things. He'll be staying in Lindsay's room for the next few nights."

"And Lindsay?"

"She'll sleep in my room."

Nick stared at his glass and swirled the water around. He looked over to Catherine. "So, breakfast at Grissom's tomorrow?"

Catherine nodded. "Yeah, until he changes his mind."

"You been to his place yet?"

"Once. I had to drop off some files when he was sick."

"Good, then you know where it is." He grinned. "You can take me." He took another sip of water. His grin faded. "You think Sara will be there?"

Catherine shook her head. "I don't know."

"I guess we'll see tomorrow."

Nick downed the rest of his water and placed the glass in the sink. He turned to Catherine. "He was really mad today."

"Grissom?"

"Yeah. We really screwed up."

"Nick, we didn't tell the news stations anything about the case or where the case was heading. We couldn't stand by and let them say what they wanted to about Warrick. We only expressed our distaste concerning the way they handled the story."

"Is that what you call it?" Nick turned and faced Catherine, looking into her eyes. "Come on Cath, we were wrong. We could have shouted out anything in anger and hurt the case. It was only luck that we didn't. I'm man enough to admit that I was wrong."

"We didn't hurt the case, Nick."

"We could have."

"We didn't."

"Catherine." He sighed. She looked away. He found her eyes again. "We're both angry. I don't like hearing the things that the media's been saying about Warrick's death. Warrick was my best friend. I loved him, but Grissom was right. We let our anger get the best of us."

"Nick, it happens. We're human. Grissom doesn't have to worry about that because he suppresses his emotions."

"That's not fair Catherine. He lets his emotions out. We've both seen it. I bet it took a lot of will power for him not blow up like we did."

"I know." Catherine shook her head. "I just…hate it when he's right."

Nick grinned. "I know you do."

"And for the record, he may be right about our reaction to the media, but he was wrong about Sara."

Nick wanted to argue, tell Catherine that it was a two way street and that Sara was as much at fault for the way things were between her and Grissom as Grissom was, and let Catherine know that it really wasn't their business. Instead, he let it pass and smiled at Catherine. "Well, maybe, but I'll let you tell him that." He gently squeezed her shoulder. "I'm off to try and get some more sleep, see if the pain killers helped any. You should try too, especially since you are on call tonight."

Catherine looked over to the table where Lindsay was still working. "I want to stay up with Lindsay for a bit. I'll take a nap later."

"Alright." He walked down the hall and climbed back into bed. He took a minute to recount the books in the bookshelf before drifting back to sleep."

* * *

She wasn't all that surprised when she got called into work. It was Vegas after all, and Saturday nights were never quiet. She left Nick and Greg playing cards in the dining room and drove out to Henderson. When she arrived, she met Vartann as she crossed under the police tape. "Hey, what have we got?"

"Hi Catherine. Male DB, looks like a gun shot wound to the chest. Grissom's in the house with the body. He's been here about an hour and a half already. He only asked me to call you within the last half hour."

Catherine nodded and walked towards the house. She opened the front door and spotted Grissom bent over a piece of evidence. She sighed. She wasn't surprised to find him here, but she had hoped he'd take a night off and try to work some things out. She was worried about him. He wasn't dealing with Warrick's death or Sara's return properly. She knew he wouldn't listen if she tried to speak to him about it, so she just shook her head and approached him. "Hey Grissom."

He looked up from his evidence. "Catherine. Sorry to call you in. I've got the inside of the house. David should be here any minute to examine the body. He got held up at another crime scene. Can you take the perimeter?"

"Yeah, sure." She turned to exit, but not before glancing down at the body. It was the body of a young, black male. He was tall and thin and had short hair. With the exception of the eyes, he didn't resemble Warrick at all, but that didn't stop Catherine's heart from skipping a beat. She froze momentarily before taking a deep breath and stepping back outside. Grissom followed her. "Catherine, are you okay?"

"Yeah." She nodded and told herself that the body didn't even look like Warrick. The lifeless eyes that could have been Warrick's, weren't. It wasn't Warrick's body. She'd been spared that scene.

"Okay." Grissom's voice was soft. "I just need you to help me collect the evidence. You can go home after. I'll take all the evidence back to the lab to process."

"I can help you process."

"No, go home. After I hand everything off to the lab rats, there won't be much to do. There's no reason for us to both sit around and wait on results."

Catherine looked at him and wanted to argue, but she was too tired to put up a fight and she did want to go back home. She gave Grissom a small smile. "Thanks."

David walked by her on his way into the house. He gave her a shy, sympathetic smile as he passed. She smiled back and began to walk the perimeter, placing markers, photographing, collecting evidence and taking notes. She stopped what she was doing and watched as the body was removed from the house and placed in the coroner's van.

After spending an hour on the perimeter, Catherine reentered the house and began helping Grissom process the interior. A couple hours later, she handed Grissom her notes and took her evidence to his Denali. As she was placing the evidence inside, she heard Grissom approach her. "Catherine?"

She turned towards him. "I'm almost done putting all the evidence in the truck. Are you sure you don't want me to help log it all in?"

"No, go home."

She studied him for a moment. "Okay." She turned back towards the truck.

"Catherine?"

"Yes?" She remained facing away.

"I know I asked you all for breakfast, but…"

Catherine tensed as he spoke. He was going to back out. She grew angry. He couldn't keep hiding from his emotions. She spun around and glared at him. "But what Grissom?"

"I'm not sure when I'll be done at the lab. Can we make it lunch instead? Around noon?"

Her mouth was open. She stared at him. It was not the response she expected. It took a moment for her to speak. "Yeah, sure. I'll tell the guys." She looked at him again before placing the remaining evidence in the truck. She shook her head. She turned back to say goodbye, but he was already back in the house. She climbed into her car and drove home. When she got there, she walked straight into her room and fell asleep next to her daughter.

* * *

The sun began to rise. He was back at the lab, looking over the evidence and making notes. After processing all he could, he looked around for Ecklie, hoping for an update on Warrick's case. He couldn't find him and surmised that the chances of Ecklie being in the lab that early on a Sunday were slim to none. He walked back to his office and waited for the lab rats' results.

He thought about Sara as he sat in his office. He wanted to be at home with her. He felt bad about leaving for hours the day before, then getting called in later that night. They were supposed to spend that day together and instead, she spent it alone while he worked. He decided that he'd spent enough time away from her. He grabbed the file he'd made and stood up. He walked through the lab and found Wendy. "Hey, I'm going home. I'm taking my files. Can you page me with your findings?"

"Yeah, sure." She smiled at him. "I'll let all the others know. Who do you have evidence with? Hodges? Mandy? Henry?"

He nodded. "All of them, and Bobby."

"I'll let them know."

"Thanks." He walked through the lab, leaving a message with Judy, before exiting the building.

When he arrived home, he was greeted by his dog. He bent down to pet him. "Hey Hank, where's Sara." He began to walk quietly through the house. He didn't see her.

He approached the spare bedroom and peeked in. She wasn't there. Her bags weren't there either. His heart stopped. He tried not to panic, but he was left with the feeling that she had left again. He tried to calm himself as he walked to the master bedroom. When he opened the door, he found her curled up under the covers, asleep. He smiled and undressed before climbing in beside her. He laid down and draped his arm over her. He watched as her body moved closer to him and snuggled into his warmth. He closed his eyes and fell asleep with a smile on his face.

He woke up to see Sara staring at him, her eyes fluttering open and shut. He smiled and scooted closer to her, taking her hand in his. "Good morning."

"Mmm, morning." Sara smiled.

"Did you sleep well?"

"With you? Always." He felt her hand pull from his grasp as she moved closer and placed her arm around his back.

"Sorry I had to leave you last night."

Her eyes closed. "S'okay, I understand. I hung out with Hank."

He smiled. "I bet Hank liked that."

"Sure, I talked, he slept; I slept, he barked. We had a great time."

He laughed. "Hey Sara?" Her eyes opened again. He tilted her head up. "We have to get up soon."

"Everybody's coming over here, aren't they?"

"Soon. They'll be a couple hours. They're coming for lunch instead of breakfast."

She looked away. He gently stroked her cheek. "Sara, what's wrong? Are you nervous about seeing them?" She nodded.

"It'll be okay. Everybody wants to see you."

"What if they…" She turned away from him. He leaned over her and gently pulled her onto her back.

"What if they, what?"

"Never mind. I'm sorry, forget it."

He pursed his lips. "What if they react like I did?"

Sara's eyes grew wide. She looked away. "Yeah."

"They won't. They'll be happy you're here."

"Sure, angry I left."

He tilted her face back towards his. "Sara, I'm sorry. I was never angry at you for leaving. I was scared and hurt, but never angry. The other day I was angry over Warrick's death. I'm still angry. I felt guilty. I wanted to stop feeling guilty so I transferred my guilt onto you. It was easier to blame you than blame myself. It was never your fault. Nobody will be angry at you and nobody will blame you for any of this."

Sara smiled wistfully. "Maybe."

"Sara, I'm so sorry."

"Gil, we went over this yesterday. It's okay. You know, some of how I'm feeling is my own doing. And besides," she smiled, " it was kind of nice to see you let your emotions get the best of you, even if it was at my expense."

He watched her try to smile again in reassurance. He smiled at her effort and stroked her cheek. "We better get up. I want to hit the grocery store and pick up some things before everyone gets here. Do you want to come?"

"Yeah." She rose and sat on the edge of the bed. "I'll be ready to go in ten."

He laid on his side and watched as she dressed.

They returned from the grocery store with a half hour to spare. He set out the fruit and deli trays and watched Sara as sat down on the couch, looking pensive. He approached her softly and sat down next to her. "Hey."

She gave him a sad smile. He grasped her hand. "Are you ready to face the team?"

He knew she was trying to put on a brave face. She smiled back at him. "Are you ready to have a bunch of people in your house?"

"Our house, and yes, I'm ready as long as they don't snoop around too much."

Sara laughed. "Then, you'd better keep an eye on Catherine."

He smiled and stood up. "Trust me, I'll be watching her." He pulled her off the couch and squeezed her hands in his. "Look, if you aren't comfortable with this, you don't have to hang around. You can stay in our room or go for a walk to get away."

"I have to face them some time. I don't want to hide."

"You won't be hiding, besides Hank will need a walk. If you want to stick around, I'll be right here if you need me."

"Maybe I'll take Hank for a walk now. It'll give me some time to work up the courage to see everyone."

He smiled softly and leaned forward, kissing her forehead. "That's a good idea."

"Gil, it may be a really long walk."

"I can hold down the fort." He smiled at her and watched her walk into the bedroom. When she returned, she had changed and was holding Hank's leash. She attached the leash to Hank and smiled at Grissom before exiting. Grissom returned to setting out food and getting the place ready for guests. Twenty minutes after Sara left, everybody arrived.

Brass had raised his eyebrows at Grissom when he discovered Sara wasn't around. Nick had shot him a sympathetic look, Greg scowled at him and Catherine looked as though she'd expected to find Grissom alone. As they dished up, they asked him about an update on Warrick's case. He saw the anger flash through the team's eyes as he told them that Warrick's funeral may not be paid for by the county. Their eyes became even darker when he told them that they still had no leads. After the discussion on the investigation was exhausted, the conversation became strained. Nick and Greg took their food into his living room. Catherine and Brass stayed in the kitchen and tried to draw information out of Grissom. They soon gave up and joined Nick and Greg in the living room, leaving him alone in the kitchen.

He watched as his team sat in his living room, talking at ease. He wished he could be a part of the conversation, but knew if he entered, the conversation would become strained again. Still, he smiled, knowing that they were taking care of each other. His smile grew when he saw his dog run into the living room where everybody was. He knew Sara must have let the dog in the back entrance. He heard Catherine ask Hank where he had been hiding. He saw the disbelief on Nick's and Greg's faces when they discovered he had a dog. The next sight he expected to see was Sara walking into the living room. When he didn't see her, he guessed that she was outside, trying to summon that last ounce of courage to see everybody. He opened his front door and caught sight of her staring standing the curb, looking out over the street. Her arms were wrapped around her body. His breath caught in his throat. He approached her from behind, spun her around and placed a fervent kiss on her lips.

* * *

Sara smiled when they broke. "Hi."

"Hey. I'm so glad you're back."

She laughed. "How's lunch going?"

"Terrible. They're upset you're not around."

She looked away, feeling bad for being such a coward and taking that hour and a half long walk. She felt Grissom turn her face back towards his. "Hey, they're upset at me, not you. They think you're still staying in the hotel."

"You haven't told them."

"No."

She shook her head at him and laughed. "Not that I'm complaining, because I'd rather keep what we have private, but can I ask why you decided not to defend yourself and tell them I'm staying with you?"

"They've already drawn their own conclusions and it's none of their business anyway."

"Oh, I see." She grinned. "You're alright with everyone being upset with you?"

"I'm sure the mood will lighten when they see you. They may even forgive me a little." Grissom grasped her hand and led her into the house. She followed him down the stairs and into the living room. Her stomach felt queasy as she glanced at her old team. Grissom cleared his throat and got their attention. "Sara's here."

She watched everybody's faced brighten as they saw her. Nick was the first one up as he rushed to her and picked her up, squeezing her in a bear hug, his cast digging into her back. She laughed when he let her down. "Hey Nicky."

"I missed you, Sar. I'm so glad you're here." His eyes saddened and she nodded.

Greg moved in for the next hug, seeming tentative at first. When she hugged back, she felt him relax. "Sara, god it's great to see you. It wasn't the same with you gone."

"I missed you too Greg."

She let go of him and watched him nod. "You know Sara, I'm still a great person to talk to."

"I know Greg."

Sara looked past Greg smiled at Brass. He grinned back at her. They didn't say anything to each other; they didn't need to. She didn't say anything to Catherine either. She watched the conflicting emotions run through the older woman's eyes. She felt the same. While she was happy to see everyone, she couldn't forget the circumstances that brought her back. She knew how upset everyone else was. They'd known Warrick for a long time, longer than she had. She walked over to Catherine and embraced her.

No one questioned her leaving. In fact, everyone seemed to avoid that conversation. Instead, they made small talk, told jokes and laughed. She felt Grissom's eyes on her, offering her support through out the afternoon. She was talking with Catherine and Greg and watching Grissom converse with Brass when she noticed Nick wasn't around. She excused herself from the conversation and stepped outside. She spotted Nick sitting alone on the front steps. She smiled softly. "Hey, mind if I join you?"

He smiled back at her. "This seat's been waiting for you."

She sat down next to him and put her hand on his cast. She looked at it but didn't say anything. She saw him look at her and she looked away. "I broke it. I punched a wall when I saw Warrick's body and I broke it."

"Nick, I'm so sorry."

"It was a stupid thing to do."

"Well, you were upset. We do stupid things when we're mad or upset. I tend to provoke people."

She smiled when he laughed. "Yeah, you do."

"Hey now."

Nick held up his hands in surrender. His smile softened. "How have you been?"

"I've been doing alright. This whole thing hasn't helped any, but I'll be okay."

"It's good that you came back for this."

She smiled sadly. "Yeah."

She felt Nick shift so that he was facing her. "Sara, I know you don't like talking about any of this, but I want you to know that we missed you. I know you needed to get away after everything that happened. I felt that way after…well after, you know…I just wanted to let you know I understand." He paused. She looked at him and he smiled warmly. "I know this is none of my business, but I also want you to know that Grissom understands. He was confused and he spent a lot of time trying to make sense of your leaving, but I know that deep down he understood, and as much as he tried to hide it, I could see how much he loved you."

Tears sprung to her eyes. She didn't want to hear any more about how she had hurt Grissom by leaving. "Nick, stop, please."

"I know, sorry, it's none of my business. This hard enough on you already. I just thought you should know." He stood up and walked back into the house, leaving her alone. She sat for a moment before getting up and walking back into the house. When she made her way into the living room, she sought out Grissom's eyes. He was still talking to Brass. His eyes were dark and sad, but when they found hers, they brightened. Then, she saw him smile.

Sara noticed that Nick rejoined Catherine and Greg in their conversation. She walked over to them and discovered they were getting ready to leave. Catherine was planning on heading into the lab to process some of the evidence from the previous night's case and wanted to spend some time with Lindsay first. Greg looked over at Catherine before turning back to Sara. "Do you need a ride back to your hotel?"

"Thanks Greg, but no, I'm okay for a ride."

"You know, you can come back to Catherine's with us, if you don't want to be alone. Nick and I have been staying there."

"That's okay. I'm sure Catherine has enough guests. I'll be alright."

"You're sure?"

"Yes. If I change my mind, I'll call you, okay?"

"Okay." Greg eyed her before smiling. "Bye Sara, I'll see you later."

"Bye Greg." Her voice softened. "Bye Nick." He nodded. She turned to Catherine. "Cath, don't let Greg drive you crazy."

Catherine laughed. "You know he will. Bye Sara. Call if you need anything."

She watched them walk over to Grissom and Brass and say goodbye before leaving. Brass followed shortly after, grabbing his jacket and winking at her before leaving.

She moved to the couch and pulled her legs up, holding them in her arms. Grissom sat down next to her. "Was it as hard as you thought it would be?"

"Yes and no. I didn't think I'd miss them as much as I did."

"They missed you too."

She leaned into his side. When he wrapped his arms around her, she curled deeper into him. "You know, it was Warrick who taught me about what it meant to be part of a team. Before, the people I worked with were just that, the people I worked with. Then, I had to investigate Warrick and he taught me to talk to my coworkers. He taught me to trust them and listen to them and be there for them. He showed that there was more to being a coworker than just working with someone."

"Warrick was always the center of grave. The team was very important to him."

"I miss him, Gil. The last time I saw him, he told me I was tough. He said he wasn't worried about me. I never even thought to be worried about him. He was offering me his support and I didn't think to offer it back. Some goodbye."

"I don't think Warrick ever needed a goodbye. He could read people better than anybody. He knew. He knew we supported him and he knew you would have too."

"You think so?"

"Yeah." Grissom tightened his embrace on her. "So, where did you disappear to this afternoon?"

"I was outside talking with Nick."

"Good talk?"

"Overall, yeah. He told me what I needed to hear, even if it hurt."

He nodded and stroked her cheek. She smiled when he leaned down and placed a tender kiss on her lips.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter Six

She sat in the coffee shop looking across the small table, at her daughter. She smiled. Lindsay looked up. "What?"

"Nothing." She continued to watch Lindsay pick away at her muffin. Her smile widened.

"Right, if it was nothing, you wouldn't be fixing me with that creepy smile, so you may as well tell me what it is you're thinking about."

Catherine laughed. "I was just thinking about how great you've been, letting Nick and Greg invade the house, giving Greg your room…"

"Yeah, about that, you don't think he's doing anything weird in there, do you?"

"Lindsay!" Her eyes widened, fearing her daughter's words could be true.

Lindsay laughed. "Relax mom, I was just kidding."

Catherine visibly relaxed. "Yeah, I know you were."

"And yet, you're still afraid it could be true." Lindsay popped the last bit of her muffin in her mouth and swallowed. "Don't worry mom; I doubt he's doing anything. Besides, if he is, it probably isn't any worse that what's been done in there before."

She knew her daughter was joking; she knew it. It still didn't stop her from spitting out the latte she was drinking. "Jesus Christ Lindsay!"

Lindsay laughed again. "Wow mom, you're really jumpy. You know I'm kidding."

"I know." Catherine took a deep breath. "I know. Can you stop?"

"Alright, I'll steer us back on track. You're thankful I've been so awesome, and you should be. I've been really great, amazing actually, but I don't mind." Lindsay shrugged and took a sip of her iced cap.

Catherine smiled softly and sat back in her chair, looking across at her daughter. "You've really grown up Lindsay."

"Scary, isn't it?" Lindsay grinned back at her.

She took her napkin and crumpled it up, throwing it at her daughter. "Yeah, well don't grow up too fast, smartass. You're still only sixteen."

"Seventeen in a few months."

"Yeah, and graduating in just over a year. Don't remind me." She leaned forward again and pushed Lindsay's cup closer towards her. "Now, drink up. I have to go into work soon and you have to finish up with the school work you missed Friday."

"Done."

"Really?"

"Yep, Nick helped me."

"Well, great." Catherine stood up and watched Lindsay down the remaining liquid. "So what are you going to do tonight then?"

"Just chill, I guess. When are you going to be home?"

"Early I hope."

Catherine dropped her daughter off before heading into the lab. She found Grissom in his office. "Hey, what time did you get here?"

"About twenty minutes ago."

"Anything new?"

"We got a hit on the prints. A Jordan Collier. He's in the system for aggravated assault. We've just got a warrant to search his house."

"Great."

Catherine was relieved when the search proved fruitful. They had found a gun in Collier's possession and ballistics was able to match it to the one that killed their victim. After watching Collier confess to Vartann, Catherine headed back to the lab and to Grissom's office. She sat down across from him. "He confessed."

"Good. I guess you can head home then."

"Yeah." She stood up. "What are you going to do?"

"I have to finish up a couple things here."

Catherine frowned. "Okay. I'll see you later." She walked out of his office and headed home. She tried to forget that Grissom was remaining in the lab. Instead, she thought of home and was thankful that it was early and she could spend some time with her daughter that evening.

* * *

He found himself in the lab early Monday morning. As he entered the building, he thought about the previous night. He had been relieved that the case wrapped up quickly and had headed home shortly after Catherine. When he had arrived home, he found Sara in bed, reading. He smiled, remembering how he crawled in next to her and successfully distracted her from her reading before they both fell into a quiet slumber, wrapped in each other's arms.

His thoughts were interrupted when he noticed the abundance of flower bouquets filling the entrance . To say he was surprised to see them was an understatement. He shook his head and walked past them on his way to Ecklie's office.

The door was open when he arrived. He knocked on the frame. Ecklie looked up at him and nodded for him to come in. "Conrad, I hope that this meeting means you have something to report on Warrick's case."

"Sit down Gil." He sat down and raised his eyebrows, indicating for Ecklie to continue. "That isn't why I called you in."

"So there is nothing new?"

"No. We're in the process of going through Gedda's financials, seeing if there is anything there to connect him to anyone, although I'm sure that whoever it is we're dealing with is smart enough to avoid leaving a paper trail."

Grissom ran his hand through his hair. Ecklie leaned forward. "Grissom, I may need your help. We don't have any witnesses. We need to know who was at the diner, who knew Warrick was there, who could have seen him go in. We only know about the cops who responded to the gun shot. You were at the diner with Warrick. What did you see? Who did you see?"

He sighed. "I'll search my memory and I'll ask the team to do the same."

"Good, we'll cross reference any names you come up with against the officers we cleared that day and see if any new names come up."

"Is that why you asked me to come in?"

"No, that was part of it, but it wasn't the main reason." Ecklie stood and walked around his desk, perching himself on the edge. "The undersheriff spoke with the sheriff and the mayor and he has managed to persuade them to allow the county to pay for Warrick's funeral. I spoke to Warrick's ex-wife this morning. We have started making funeral arrangements for Thursday. I'll get you a time and place later today. You can tell the team."

Grissom closed his eyes and sighed in relief. "Thank you and when you speak to the undersheriff, let him know my appreciation."

"I will."

Ecklie stood up and moved back around his desk. Grissom stood and moved to the door.

"Grissom, before you leave, do something about all of those flowers that keep on coming in. They're cluttering up my lab's entrance."

Grissom shook his head as he thought about Ecklie's parting words. The man had a way about him. He stopped by the reception desk on his way out and studied the flowers gathering there. "Dr Grissom?" He looked over at the day receptionist, whose name he couldn't remember. "This young man is here to see you."

He looked to where the receptionist was indicating. He saw a young man also eyeing the flowers. The young man was a scrawny African American boy who looked to be about fifteen. The young man's eyes were glancing up at him.

"Can I help you?"

He watched the young man take a deep breath and glance down at the flowers before looking back up at him. "My name is Sean. I've come to ask you about Warrick's…Mr. Brown's funeral."

"It's on Thursday. How do you know Warrick?"

"He's helped me out. He comes by our neighborhood rec center from time to time."

"Oh?" He paused and studied the young man. "Your neighborhood rec center?"

"Yeah. He, uh, started coming when it was about to close. Mr. Phelps used to run it, but he got into some trouble and was sent to jail for a bit. Warrick got the rec center reopened, found some volunteers to run it until Mr. Phelps got out and could run it again. After that, Warrick still came by whenever he could."

Grissom smiled sadly at the young man. 'Sean, was it?"

Sean nodded. "Yeah."

"Warrick's funeral is Thursday. I'm not sure about time and place yet, but I'll let you know as soon as I find out. How can I reach you?"

"Uh, through the rec center I guess. Everybody there wants to know."

"Alright."

The young man put his hand on the exit door. "Thanks."

"Sean?" He watched as Sean looked back up at him. "Look, I have to take these flowers somewhere. Do you think we could take them to the rec center?"

The young man's face brightened. "Yeah. I think that would be a good place for them."

"Great. Can you help me with them?"

Sean helped him load the flowers into his truck. He and Sean drove the flowers to Warrick's old neighborhood and unloaded them, saving a couple bouquets and leaving them in the truck. His next stop was Catherine's. He left one nice sized bouquet in the truck to take home to Sara before grabbing the largest bouquet and a couple of the smaller ones and approaching the door. He knocked with his foot. When Catherine opened the door, he thrust the smaller bouquets in her hands and put down the large one. "These came to the lab. I decided to take them here."

"Uh, thanks."

He stepped in the door. "Are Nick and Greg here? The smaller bouquets are for them. I figured you could have the large one as you're sharing your home."

"They're in the kitchen." Catherine eyed him as he slipped off his shoes and took the two bouquets from her.

"Great." He walked into the kitchen and placed the flowers on the table. Catherine followed him, carrying the large bouquet. He sat down at the table. "I'm glad you're all here. I have some news. Warrick's funeral is on Thursday. Ecklie will let us know the details later."

"Whose paying for it?"

"The county is, Catherine."

"How?"

"The undersheriff."

Nick nodded.

"Another thing." He looked around the table. Everybody's eyes were on him. He sighed. "Ecklie needs us to act as witnesses. Try to remember everyone you saw in and around the diner last Friday morning. Write all the names down and get them to Ecklie."

"Do you actually think that is going to help?"

"No, but Ecklie doesn't have anything else to go on."

"We're trusting Ecklie with this?"

"We don't have a choice, Nick. I know Ecklie isn't the greatest criminalist…"

"He's an ass."

He sighed again. "That may be, but I have to trust him."

"Why?"

"Who else? We can't process."

"Send it to another lab."

"Look," Grissom looked down at his hands and touched his fingertips together. "When Warrick was arrested, Ecklie told Warrick to get a lawyer. He let me look over the evidence and let us draw our own conclusions, and he listened to us. He's keeping me up to date now."

"Alright, if you trust him, then I do too."

"That's good, Nick"

"So do I." Catherine stood up and put her hand on Grissom's shoulder. He looked over to Greg. Greg just shrugged.

He stood up. "Thanks. Remember to write those names down."

* * *

He decided that if he was going to try to remember what he saw at the diner that morning, the best place to jog his memory was the diner. As much as he didn't want to remember, he knew he had to. He had spent the last three days trying to forget what happened. He didn't want to remember hearing the gun shot or holding Warrick in his arms while he watched the blood drain from Warrick's body. He didn't want to remember any of it.

When he entered the diner, he felt sick. He wanted to throw up. The images of Warrick continued to assault his mind. He sat down at the counter, and stared down, willing his memory to recall everything that had happened before he heard the shot. He couldn't. Everything was a blur. He couldn't remember any of the faces. He couldn't even remember the face of the officer who spoke to him while he was holding Warrick's lifeless body in his arms. Instead, as he tried to summon up the faces, he only saw blurred images of faceless people moving in and out of the diner. Warrick's laughing visage was the only one he could remember.

Somebody dropped a dish and his head flew up. His eyes flew around the room. The crash startled him. The sound of the gunshot invaded in his brain. He wanted to scream. He could hear it over and over again, pounding in his brain. And he could smell it. He could still smell the blood. He could still smell the smoke from the recently fired shot. He dropped his head again and squeezed his eyes shut.

He felt a hand on his shoulder. He jumped, then looked up to see the waitress standing over him. It was the waitress that had waited on them that morning. He remembered her face. He noticed that she was looking at him funny. "Sorry?"

"I asked if I could get you anything?"

"Oh, um, just a coffee."

She smiled and grabbed the coffee pot, filling the cup in front of him. He returned her smile. "Thanks." He looked down at his cup.

"You knew him, didn't you?"

He looked back up and saw her fidgeting as she watched him. "Who?"

"The man that was shot outside last Friday. He was one of the ones sitting with you Friday."

"Yeah, we worked together. He was my friend."

"I'm so sorry."

He nodded and took a sip of his coffee. He watched her move around the counter and sit next to him. "Erin, I'm taking five." She smiled shyly at him and put her hand on his arm.

He looked down at her hand, then over at her. He raised his eyebrows.

"It's Nick, right?"

"Yeah."

"I'm Jessica."

"I remember." He smiled when she blushed.

"I, uh, didn't think you would. I mean, after that gunshot sounded and you ran out and then I heard that it was the man you were sitting with…I didn't think you'd remember."

"To be honest, I only remembered when you told me, but as soon as you told me, it was like I'd never forgotten." She blushed again and he grinned.

He watched her look down. "I'm, uh, a little surprised to see you back here."

He looked down at his cup. His smile fell. "I'm trying to remember, yet trying to forget, if that makes any sense."

She nodded. "You're trying to figure out what happened."

"Yeah."

"I wish I could help."

"You are helping." She glanced at him inquisitively. "Maybe not helping to figure out what happened, but you're really great to talk to and that's helping."

She smiled again. "I should be getting back to work." He nodded. She stood up and moved back around behind the counter, grabbing her coffee pot and making her way through the diner.

His eyes followed her as she went from table to table, offering coffee. She looked back over at him and smiled softly. He smiled back and his eyes continued to scan the room. He closed his eyes again and tried to recall the faces at the diner that morning. Now he only saw a few faces, Warrick's, the team's and the pretty waitress Jessica's. He shook his head. It was no use. He would never be able to remember who else was there.

He continued to sip away at the rest of his coffee. Jessica had moved back behind the counter and was picking up menus. Her back was to him. "Jessica?" She turned around and stared at him. "What time are you off?"

"Noon."

He looked down at his watch. A half hour. "Do you think you could…I mean, would you like to go for a walk with me, maybe get something to eat? I'd like to keep talking with you."

She smiled at him. "Sure. Wait for me?"

He smiled widely. "Can I have another cup of coffee while I wait?"


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

"What happened to your hand?"

"Sorry?" He had zoned out, not hearing her question. It was the second time he caught himself lost in thoughts and oblivious to his current company. He looked over at the girl walking next to him.

"Your hand, you didn't have that cast on Friday."

He glanced down at his hand briefly. "Oh that, I, uh, broke it on Friday."

"Oh, I'm sorry."

He watched as her eyes shot down to the pavement. He moved to reassure her. "It's okay. You didn't know."

He continued to walk next to her, occasionally stealing glances and noticing when she did the same. Neither of them spoke, each looking up to say something before returning their eyes to the ground. He searched his mind for something to say; anything to break the uncomfortable silence between them. "Jessica?"

"Yeah?"

"Thanks for coming on this walk with me."

"You're welcome."

The words were not enough to get a conversation going and they resumed walking in silence. He looked over at her and opened his mouth, attempting to say something again, but realized he had nothing. He quickly looked away. He mentally scolded himself for causing the uncomfortable situation. Normally, he didn't have a problem making conversation with a woman and it was disquieting to find himself at a loss for words with her. His thoughts kept drifting back to Warrick and the many things he wanted to get off of his chest. He needed to talk to someone other than the team, but he barely knew Jessica and he didn't feel like it was fair to unload on her. However, talking about something else was extremely difficult when his mind was on Warrick. Instead, he walked beside her, the silence deafening as he tried to come up with something to say.

He glance quickly at her and hoped she'd say something, anything. She seemed as lost for words as he was. She had tried, earlier, to make conversation, asking about his cast, but it just served to remind them of Friday morning. For a moment, he wished she were a more forward person, someone like Catherine, someone who always had something to say and could get anyone out of an awkward situation. He shook the thought from his head and reasoned that if she was more forward, if she was anyone but the shy girl walking next to him, he wouldn't have asked her to go for a walk. Besides, he knew that he was to blame for the painful silence and he felt like he had to say something; he just didn't know what.

His cell rang, disrupting the quiet. He breathed a sigh of relief and silently thanked god for the interruption. His relief was short lived though. He spoke briefly to the caller, closed his phone and turned to Jessica. "That was my boss. I have to go to work. Apparently it's urgent."

"Okay." They turned and began walking back towards the diner.

"I'm really sorry."

"You have to work; I understand."

"No, I'm sorry about the walk. I was terrible company."

"No, you weren't, really." He smiled at her attempt to reassure him.

"I was. The walk was awkward and you're sorry you came with me."

"No, I'm not. And the walk wasn't awkward. It was…"

Nick waited for her to finish her sentence. She seemed to be searching for a nice way to end it and not hurt his feelings. He decided to save her. "It was awkward and uncomfortable and I'm really very sorry."

"It wasn't you. It was the…situation."

"Right." He nodded and walked the rest of the way in silence. When they reached his truck, he turned to her. "Again, I'm sorry." He glanced at the ground before looking back at her. "I don't know if you want to risk it, but maybe we can try this again, after everything blows over. I promise to cut back on the awkward moments."

She smiled softly at him. "I'd like that." He returned her smile and climbed into his truck.

There was a flurry of activity when he arrived at the scene. He walked through the casino and into the hotel. Brass was standing next to front desk, talking to the receptionist. He approached Brass. "Hey, what have we got?"

"Three DBs. Room 932. Grissom's up there."

Nick nodded and made his way to the elevator. When he opened the door to the room he was shocked. "Jesus Christ. What happened here?"

Grissom looked up at him. "Housekeeper entered the room to do a clean and found this. Sorry to have to call you in, but we need all hands, or in your case, hand, on deck."

Nick nodded while continuing to stare at the scene. He barely registered Grissom's words. Instead, he focused on the scene in front of him. Two young women were on their stomachs on the bed. Their heads were turned to the side, displaying their slit throats. The woman closest to the door had four vertical cuts running the length of her naked back. The woman next to her had five. A sheet covered the bottom half of their bodies. The scene was completed by the presence of a third body. In the middle of the room, a man was hanging from the ceiling. Nick coughed and shook his head. "Where, uh, where do you need me?"

"I need you to pull surveillance of the entrance to the casino, the hotel, the elevator, and see if they have surveillance of their halls. Take it back to the lab and go through it with Archie. I'll try to get you a time frame to look at."

"I'm on it." He turned quickly and exited the room. He stopped, momentarily in the hall to rest, placing his hand on the wall. All he could think about was how thankful he was to not have to process that hotel room."

* * *

Images of two people floated through her head as she walked through the casino. The first was Warrick. He hadn't left her thoughts in the last few days. The second person to invade her mind was Sam Braun. Everything about walking through his old casino, good and bad, reminded her of him. She wanted to shake the images away but Greg walking behind her, spouting facts she already knew about Old Vegas, made it impossible. She finally turned around to face him. "Greg, I am well aware of what my father did to build this, his first, casino. I don't need to be reminded." She quickened her pace to the room, Greg on her heels. She entered the room and stopped dead in her tracks causing Greg to bump into her. "Wow."

Grissom was photographing the bodies. She watched as he turned to her. "Catherine, Greg, I'm glad you're here. I just sent Nick off to check surveillance. Greg, I need you to print the elevators and the door handle outside the room. When you're done, you can head back to the lab to process the bodies. The day shift coroner should be here any minute. You can head back with him and the bodies."

"Jeremy? Does anyone else think he's really creepy?"

"Focus Greg. Catherine, you're in here with me."

Catherine shot Greg a sympathetic look as he left. She turned to Grissom. "Surveillance? Print the elevators? So you don't think it's murder-suicide; guy kills two women then hangs himself?"

"How would he have gotten up there Catherine? He's not close enough to either of the beds and the room chairs are all in their proper places around the table. He had nothing to step up on. He had to have had some help."

"Right." Her eyes moved about the room. "Is it just me, or does this room look immaculate, apart from the blood spatter and bodies? Everything is in it's proper place. The comforter to the bed the female vics are on is folded neatly in the corner. The other bed is made."

"Looks too perfect, doesn't it."

"It doesn't look like an occupied hotel room. It looks constructed." She moved around the room, snapping photos. Her camera found the hanging victim. After taking multiple shots, she put her camera down. "Victim was hung by a bed sheet. If he wasn't already dead, it wouldn't have been a quick death. Where did the sheet come from? Other bed perhaps?" She moved towards the perfectly made bed, and after taking numerous photos, she peeled back the comforter. "This bed's missing a sheet."

"So the killer steals the sheet then remakes the bed?"

"Whoever it is, they sure did a good job of remaking the bed." She began to scan for trace. "Present for semen."

She moved to look down at the two bodies on the other bed. Grissom moved to stand beside her. "Cath, what do you make of these cuts down their backs?"

"I don't know, markings? Four cuts then Five? Forty-five? Four precedes five; a tally maybe?"

"If it's a tally, then we have a serial killer. I'll ask Brass to do a check and see if there are any other crime scenes matching this one."

She nodded. "What about the man? Do you think we'll be looking at three, or maybe six cuts down his back?"

"I don't know. Somehow, I don't think so. He's fully clothed. The cuts along our female victims' backs are definitely on display. Look at how the sheet covers the bodies up to the cuts."

"We'll have to wait for the coroner before we can check for those marks, but I agree, I don't think we'll find any. But, why not? If it's a tally, then you'd think the killer would make the same marks and display them as well."

"Maybe the man wasn't part of the plans."

"Collateral damage?"

"Could be."

Catherine shook her head as she looked back up at their hanging victim. "How does somebody kill three people without anybody hearing anything? The man must have struggled before…"

"Holy, hell!"

Catherine turned to see the day shift coroner standing in the doorway. "Jeremy, you're here, great. We want to take a look at the man's back. Can we lower him down?"

"One minute."

She watched as the coroner examined the body from it's hanging position and make notes. When he was finished, they carefully lowered the body down. "Can you lift his shirt?" The coroner lifted the shirt for the CSIs. Catherine exchanged a glance with Grissom. "No cuts."

"No. Cath, take a look at this." Grissom pointed to a small amount of blood dried into the hair on the back of the man's skull.

"So he was knocked out, maybe killed first?"

"That could explain the lack of noise. The killer surprised him by striking him on the back of the head? It's hard to fight back when you're knocked out or dead. We'll have to get a cause of death from the medical examiner."

"Why hang him? If he wasn't already dead, why not slit his throat as well?"

"He has no marks on his back. The killer is separating him from the other victims."

She didn't respond as her focus shifted to the coroner. He was placing the bodies in body bags. "Did you get a TOD on the victims?"

"Liver temp suggests the two female DBs have been dead between 10 and eleven hours, the male DB, slightly less, about 10 hours.

She looked over at Grissom. "3 AM."

"I'll call Nick and give him a time frame to focus on."

Catherine nodded and watched as the coroner and his assistant wheeled the bodies out. Brass appeared in the doorway just as the coroner exited with the bodies. "Hey, room's registered to a Matt Klein. He booked it for one night – last night. I also talked to the maid. She said she knocked on the door and when there was no answer she figured they must have left without formally checking out. She opened the door and when she saw the scene, she freaked out and ran to her supervisor. She's still a little shaky."

"Can you blame her?" She was freaked when she saw the scene, even more so when she thought about it being Sam's first hotel.

Brass gave her a small smile. "No, I guess not."

* * *

He watched the coroner wheel the bodies through the hall and sighed. He looked back into the hotel room and watched as Catherine and Grissom continued to collect evidence. Their faces were focused on the task but he knew that they were hurting. He could see it in the way Catherine's shoulders slumped as she examined the cast off on the walls. He could see it every time Grissom stopped and shook his head after lifting each finger print.

With each movement they made, Brass felt a pang of sympathy. He'd never seen Catherine so defeated. He thoughts moved to Nick and his heart hurt. Every time he saw Nick, he saw an angry and lost man. It was unlike Nick and he hoped Nick could keep it together. He was worried about the effect this case would have on Nick and Catherine and hoped that it might serve as a distraction from other things, all the while, knowing it was just wishful thinking.

"Are you going Jim?" Jim looked over to Grissom. Grissom had asked him to search for similar scenes.

"Right, on my way." The hotel room, Warrick's murder, they weren't only effecting the night shift CSIs.

The search for similar crime scenes proved successful. He had found what Grissom was looking for. Seven months previous, swing shift investigated a scene where two women were killed in their hotel room. The first woman had one long cut down her back; the second had two. Two months ago, day shift had a case involving another young woman killed in a hotel. She had three cuts running down her back. All of the victims were young, Caucasian women. They all had their throats slit, all killed in a hotel room and all found by the cleaning staff the next day.

Brass picked up his cell phone and hit the speed dial. "Grissom, we have a serial."

* * *

It was late into evening by the time Grissom and Catherine arrived back at the lab. He dropped off his evidence on the way to his office before flopping down on his chair and resting a few minutes. He needed to clear his head. That idea was lost when he looked down to see that Brass had dropped several files on his desk. He opened the files and slowly looked through them, grimacing when he noticed where the third victim was killed.

The team was waiting for him in the conference room. He took a moment to study them from the doorway. They sat, looking utterly drained of energy. He moved to the table and dropped the files. He opened the first one. "We have a serial. First victim was Tessa Gerard, age 22. Her throat was slit in her Four Aces hotel room seven months ago. She had one long cut running the length of her back. Second victim was Hillary Gerard, age 28. She was Tessa Gerard's older sister. They were killed together. Hillary Gerard had two vertical cuts running the length of her back." He left the file open in the middle of the table, giving the team a peek over an overview photo of the crime scene. He opened a second file. "Third victim was Carly Jones, age 32. Her throat was slit in her Golden Spike hotel room two months ago. Three vertical cuts ran the length of her back. He set the file down on the table open. "Victims four and five are our victims from last night."

He waited for the team to look at the various photos before continuing. "The killer slits their throats, poses their bodies and then marks their backs. The first three victims were raped. No semen was found and the CSIs investigating noted that the rapes were probably object rapes. Raped then posed? Greg, any evidence of rape on victims four and five?"

"Yes, they were raped. There was semen in the first…sorry, fourth victim, but none in the fifth victim. Another object rape?"

"Wait, how come the first two sets of murders weren't connected before now?"

Grissom looked over at Nick and sighed. "Swing covered the first murder, days the second."

"What about media coverage? Didn't anyone recognize the similarities?"

"Do you remember the media coverage from either of those murders?" When Nick looked at him dumbstruck, he continued. "There was a five month span between the first two sets of murder. Dayshift didn't find it, we did, so now we have a serial to investigate."

"So where does victim six, the man, fit in?"

His eyes shot to Greg. "Matt Klein. He doesn't. The killer didn't mark him. I don't think the killer is counting him. Our killer targets young women, slim, above average height. The man was, in all probability, not in his plans."

"If Matt Klein wasn't in his plans, maybe he got sloppy."

"One can hope." He paused and moved his eyes around the table, stopping at each criminalist. "Familiarize yourselves with these files while you are waiting on your results. If you need me, I'll be in the morgue with Dr. Bryant."

Three hours later, he found them in the break room, hovering over the coffee pot. "Hey." Three sets of tired faces looked at him. "Are your results in yet?"

"Some of them."

He waited as they filled their cups and headed to the conference room. "Dr. Bryant gave me COD for Matt Klein. Cause of death was asphyxiation."

"So he did die by hanging?"

"Yes. What have the rest of you got?"

Nick sat up straight. "Archie and I pulled surveillance. There are no hall cameras so we can't tell who came in and out of the hotel room. There were lots of people entering and exiting the elevators. Six sets of people got off on the ninth floor between 2 and 3 AM. Here are the stills."

Grissom picked up the photos Nick threw onto the middle of the table. "These two are our female victims."

"Yeah, they went up at 2:20."

"This one is our male DB."

"He went up at 2:56."

"Consistent with time of death. He was killed right after he got there." Grissom studied the other photos. "This one." He passed the photo to Nick. "There's no visual on the face."

"Yeah, we couldn't get one."

"Did he ride the elevator back down?"

"No. In fact, nobody did until 4:22. Two couples rode it down at that time. I don't think the killer took the elevator down."

"No, but he could have used it on the way up." He turned to Greg. "What have you got?"

"The elevator mostly contained smudges. The usable prints I did find didn't register anything in AFIS. As for the bodies, semen found in our fourth victim belonged to Matt Klein. There weren't any defensive wounds on our victims, but I did scrape their fingernails. There was a small white substance found under our fifth victim's nail. I sent it to trace. It came back latex, the kind used to make rubber gloves."

"So the killer was wearing gloves? Any DNA on it?"

"Only the victim's."

"Okay. Catherine, anything to add?"

"Semen and vaginal fluid on the sheet used to hang Matt Klein belonged to Matt Klein and victim four."

"The killer remade the bed they slept in? That's weird. Is it just me, or does Vegas have an overly high rate of serial killers. I mean, look at all the ones you investigated before I became a CSI, then, last year, Natalie Davis, now this."

Grissom shot Greg a dirty look. He watched as the young CSI mouthed a quiet, "Sorry."

Grissom sighed and checked his watch. "Alright, we'll go through the rest of the results in the morning. Be here by ten." He watched the team disperse before heading to his office. He kept the lights out as he phoned home. "Hey Sara, sorry if I woke you…we have a serial. I'm going to catch a quick sleep on the sofa here tonight." He ended his call and laid back in the dark office.

His sleep came in fits. Between his sofa and his thoughts drifting to Sara, he only managed a few hours. After waking the fourth time, he sat up and moved to his desk, turning on his desk lamp. He began looking through the files again.

An hour later, he heard a soft knock on the door. He stood up and opened it, coming face to face with Catherine. "Good morning Gil." He watched her eyes scan him and his office. She eyed him suspiciously. "Did you sleep here?"

"Is it that obvious?"

"Blanket and pillow on the sofa, same cloths as yesterday, ruffled hair. It's fairly obvious."

"What are you doing here so early?"

"I came after dropping Lindsay off at school."

"Oh."

He moved back around his desk and sat back down. Brass appeared next to Catherine in the doorway. "Hey Catherine. Gil, I've got an id on the two female victims." Gil raised his eyebrows and waited for Brass to continue. "Our fourth victim is Anna DeVarney, age 25. She was engaged to Matt Klein. Our fifth victim was her best friend, Naomi Smyth, also age 25. Matt Klein and Anna DeVarney were set to get married on Saturday. Klein booked the hotel room for his bride to be and her best friend for the bachelorette party."

"If it was for her bachelorette party, then why did Klein go up to the room?"

"Apparently the two parties were supposed to meet. Her friends joined the bachelor party, but she never showed. Klein's friends say he got worried and tried to call her to make sure everything was alright. When he couldn't get a hold of her, he decided to go up to the room. Her friends told him that she mentioned making a quick stop at the hotel room before joining them. Phone records confirm Klein called DeVarney. He made three calls, each lasting about a minute, just long enough to leave a message."

"Thanks Jim."

He looked back down at the files. He noticed Catherine move from the doorway to the seat across from him. He looked up at her. "Gil, go take a shower, change, get something to eat before everybody gets here." He nodded and as he left, he heard Catherine whisper to Brass, "I really wish he'd work things out with Sara."

* * *

He was in the layout room when Ecklie found him. "Gil, can I see you in my office?" He followed Ecklie, hoping the man had some news about Warrick's murder.

Once inside the office, he took a seat across from Ecklie. "Well, Conrad?"

"Warrick's funeral service is set for 11 AM at St Michael's.

"I'll let the team know. Is that it?"

He tensed as he watched Ecklie sigh. "No. We haven't found anything new on the investigation into his murder. Cases are backing up. I have to put it away for now."

"What?" Grissom stood up quickly. His chair fell backwards with his movement. "You can't stop the investigation."

"I have no choice, Gil. We don't have any evidence. Until we get some, I have to put it away."

"I can't let Warrick's case become a cold one."

"It was cold as soon as it began. The Under Sheriff feels that we've wasted enough time on this, and I have to agree with his. There's nothing there and we need people on other cases. You just got that serial."

He began pacing back and forth, trying to quell his rising anger. "Grave is all back, handling the serial. We need you to handle Warrick's murder."

"There's nothing there, Grissom."

"Find something."

"Gil, we've drawn blanks on the names you provided, we've drawn blanks on the financials, there are no witnesses. The only trace on the body belongs to members of your team, a hair from Catherine, the rest of the trace, from Nick Stokes. Blood and GSR on Stokes's shirt and hands. If you want me to go after someone, the logical place to start would be Nick Stokes."

"Small amounts of blood and GSR on Nick, from transfer."

"I know and he was in the diner when the shots were fired. I'm not suggesting Stokes did this. I'm saying we have very little evidence on this case, and the evidence we do have belongs to a witness, not a suspect. We're at a dead end."

Grissom turned to Ecklie and narrowed his eyes. "What ever happened to getting the guys who killed people in law enforcement?"

"Look, we all want to get whoever is involved, but if we continued wasting the county's money beating a dead horse, it's going to have repercussions. It's a political nightmare all around. Your serial case just emerged and it won't be long before the media gets a hold of it. We can't look like we're putting one case ahead of another. We can't prioritize the victims."

"You do that all the time. Excuse me if I happen to think the death of a colleague is a priority. Grave is handling the serial. There are four of us on it. Surely no one can suggest that the lab is putting Warrick's death ahead of those five dead women."

"If we continue to pour resources into a dead end, they might."

"You don't think that people will want to see some closure on Warrick's case?"

"They will." Ecklie paused. Grissom leaned against the wall, waiting for Ecklie to continue. "Which is why we have to appear we have gotten somewhere with Warrick's case. We're going to release Officer Daniel Pritchard's name. The DA and the Under Sheriff have suggested that Pritchard may have shot Warrick in an attempt to tie up loose ends before completely disappearing."

"Did anyone see Pritchard on Friday?"

"No, but Warrick was shot in a dark alley. Who's to say Pritchard didn't hide in the alley and shoot Warrick?"

"You have no evidence to support that."

"Please, Grissom. Pritchard is wanted for questioning in the death of Lou Gedda, a murder which Warrick was framed for. That certainly connects Pritchard to Warrick's murder."

Grissom pushed himself off the wall. He took a deep breath and spoke his next words slowly. "You know someone higher up is involved."

"I don't know who, though. I am continuing to keep the evidence confidential until we figure out who all is involved. Until then, Pritchard is all we've got. I'm going to release Pritchard's name in connection and put away Warrick's case. I'm sorry, Gil.If we get leads on Pritchard, or any new evidence comes in, we can open it up again."

Grissom's pulse was racing. He glared at Ecklie. "This is complete bullshit, Ecklie." He turned and left the room, slamming the door behind him. He could hear the glass break from the force.

Ecklie caught up to him and stopped his movements. "Grissom, I should suspend you for that."

"In the middle of a serial case? You won't."

"No, but you are going to pay for that."

"Take it out of my salary." He brushed by Ecklie and stormed out of the lab.

Sara was reading on the sofa when he arrived home. He sat down next to her and placed his head in his hands. He felt her hand come up and gently squeeze the back of his neck a couple of times. "Rough case?"

"Horrible."

"I thought you'd be at the lab, working on it. I didn't think I'd see you until late today."

"I had to get away for awhile."

He felt her other hand move up to his shoulder. He turned and leaned into her hands, allowing her to massage his neck and shoulders. "That feels really good."

"Good. What happened at the lab that sent you running home?"

"Ecklie is releasing inconclusive information to the media and dropping Warrick's case."

"No? Why?"

Grissom closed his eyes and concentrated on the feel of Sara's hands. "No evidence, other cases piling up, politics." He sighed. "I don't know what I'm doing anymore."

Sara began rubbing soothing circles on his back. He turned to look at her, placing his arm around her shoulder and drawing her to him. "At least you're here. At least I have you." He felt Sara tense at his words. "Sara, what is it?"

He studied her as she shook her head. "Don't worry about it right now."

"No, tell me."

"I made plans to fly back to San Francisco on Saturday."

He dropped his arm quickly and swallowed the lump forming in his throat. "Saturday?" She nodded.

"I should have known. You came back for Warrick's funeral. I knew you weren't here to stay." He looked away, choosing to focus his gaze on his hands.

He felt her hand move to rest on his thigh. He looked down at it. "Gil, I have to finish what I started." He stood up quickly and walked to the door. "Where are you going?"

"Back to the lab."

"You just got here."

"I know, but I can't stay. I can't be here right now. I have work to do."

He stopped in his tracks as he heard her plead. "Please, stay, get some rest."

He looked at her and shook his head. "I can't. I'm sorry. I don't have time. I'll see you later."

He practically ran to his car, throwing himself into the driver's seat. He put the key in the ignition, but stopped. He gripped the steering wheel and stared straight ahead, wondering how everything had gotten to out of control.


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

He sat in the car for a half an hour, trying to make some sense of everything that had happened. In the past few days, he was forced to deal with Warrick's murder and the emergence of a new serial killer. He wasn't' sure if he could deal with Sara's leaving again on top of that. Four days. She was leaving in four days. He only had four days left with her, four days to show her the extent of his love for her, four days to hold her. He pulled the keys from the ignition and walked back into the house.

After taking off his shoes, he walked quietly through the house. He found Sara asleep on the sofa. White lines cut down her red cheeks, displaying the path of her tears. Strands of hair bonded to the remaining moisture of her tears. His heart lurched, knowing she had cried herself to sleep.

Perched on the edge of the sofa, Grissom gazed down at Sara, nearly spilling his own tears at the sight of her. He lifted his hand to her face and gently brushed away the hairs, careful not to wake her. He continued to run his hand through her hair, soothing her sleeping form. And he sat, for an hour, watching her while she slept.

When Sara's eyes began to flutter open, he pulled his hand from her hair and placed it on her cheek. She peered up at him. "Hey. When did you get back?"

"I never left. I sat in my car for about a half an hour, then came back in." He smiled apologetically.

"Oh. How long have I been asleep?"

"My guess would be just over an hour." He stared down at her and examined her face, noting the fatigue he saw there. "You look exhausted. Did you sleep at all last night?"

She shook her head. "No, I couldn't. I was worried about you." He watched as she sat up and moved next to him. "What are you doing here? Shouldn't you be at the lab?"

Grasping her hand in his, he turned his face to her and smiled. "I didn't want to spend another moment without you. We only have four days." He looked down at her hand and began to play with her fingers.

"What about your case?"

He sighed. "We are suffering from a lack of evidence. We have lots of prints, but nothing registering in AFIS and the only DNA belongs to the victims. Catherine and Nick are looking through all the evidence from all the cases. I have to look through the files from the first three murders and see if I can work out a profile, but I can do that here."

"Hmm." Sara slumped against the back of the sofa and let out a yawn. Grissom watched as she fought the need to close her eyes.

"You must be tired. Come on, let's go to bed." He stood up and pulled her along with him, helping her to her feet. He led her to the bedroom and watched as she collapsed onto the bed. He laid himself down beside her and smiled when she curled into him. It wasn't long until she was asleep.

He woke her a couple of hours later and chuckled when she protested. "Sorry. I know you're tired, but I didn't want you to sleep too long. I wanted to make sure you'd be able to sleep tonight."

"S'okay."

"I made some food if you're hungry." He stood and moved to the door, making his way into the kitchen. Minutes later he heard Sara enter and felt her wrap her arms around him from behind. Her head came over his shoulder. "What smells so good?"

"I made quiche. It's keeping warm in the oven." He removed himself from her embrace and took the quiche out of the oven, setting it down on the table. He grabbed a couple of plates and forks and sat down at the table. "Are you hungry?"

"Starving." Sara sat down across from him and cut into the quiche.

Taking small bites of his own meal, he watched as Sara devoured her food. He sighed softly and glanced across the table. "Sara, I know that I said I wanted to spend every minute of the next four days with you, but I have to go to the lab. I left my files in my office and I have to pick them up."

"Alright."

"Do you want to come in with me?"

"No, I'll stay here, maybe take Hank for a walk."

"Let's walk him together. I can go into the lab after."

"You're sure?"

"I'm sure." He took his and Sara's plates and set them in the sink. As Sara left to get changed, he grabbed the leash from the side of the door and called Hank. When the dog came bounding into the room, he fastened the leash and waited for Sara.

Sara took Hank's leash from Grissom. He grasped her other hand while they walked.

"What are you thinking about?"

Grissom snapped his head up at Sara's question. "Oh. I'm thinking about the lab."

"You know, you can go back and check everything out. I'm okay walking Hank alone."

"No." He squeezed her hand tighter. "I wasn't thinking about going back to work. I was thinking about how I am going to go back to work after all of this." He sighed. "I feel like I'm losing control and I don't know what to do about it. I blew up at Ecklie earlier today. I wanted him to catch Warrick's killer so badly that I tried to force the evidence. Ecklie's trying to rush things by releasing a name without evidence, hoping to pacify the media and the team."

"That's a little dangerous. It could turn out as well as Catherine's reverse forensics stunt."

"Worse. Whoever is behind this had a private investigator, Lou Gedda and Warrick all killed to keep it quiet. Releasing a name in connection will just show our hand to someone wielding a lot of power."

"So, what are you thinking about doing?"

"I don't know. I'm worried about the integrity of the lab. If it turns out we have somebody high up in the department behind all of this, then we have to be concerned with the evidence. Cases could be compromised, already have been compromised. I don't think I can stay on at the lab if that is the case."

"They need you, Gil. They need someone to maintain the integrity and fight for the truth."

He sighed again. "I know. I'll stay on and document. Besides, I have to watch over the team. Nick has been so angry. I'm worried about what he will do."

"Be careful, Gil. Do not let anything happen to you."

"I'll be careful. I'll document everything and only share it with someone I really trust."

"Maddie Klein?"

"I think that would be best. What do you think?"

"I think she'd be the one to confide in." Sara paused. "I meant it when I told you not to let anything happen to you. I can't lose you."

He turned Sara to face him, placing his arms on her shoulders. "I'll take every precaution, I promise."

"Good." Sara's arms wrapped around him. "I'm already hanging by a thread."

He chuckled and held her tight against him. He released her and moved to step back, finding he couldn't. Hank, in an attempt to get their attention, decided to run circles around them, managing to wrap the leash around their legs. Grissom spun them out of the leash while Sara laughed. "I think we should get your dog home."

"I'm going to head to the lab when we get back. I'll only be gone an hour. You'll be alright?"

She smiled at him. "I'll manage."

* * *

"Where did Grissom go?" Catherine reentered the layout room and looked at Nick. "He's not in his office."

"I'm not sure. You sure he's not there?"

"No, I was just in there."

"Did you page him?"

"Not yet."

"Don't bother." Catherine turned and looked in the doorway at the sound of the last voice.

"Hodges, do you know where he is?"

"I heard he blew up and broke the glass to Ecklie's door. Ecklie probably sent him home."

"Thanks Hodges. Did you need something?"

"No."

"Alright, goodbye now." She watched Hodges leave and turned to Nick, raising her eyebrows. "Everything must be really getting to him." She looked for a response but received none. Everything was getting to all of them. "Anyways, let's look at this. The cuts on all of the victims' backs are smooth, about one inch deep. What kind of knife is he using?"

"Some kind of carving knife. A hunting knife maybe?"

"I'll send Greg to all of the hunting supply stores, see if he can come up with anything." She laid out the pictures of the five women. "What do you make of the markings?"

"I don't know. That's Grissom's area."

"He's probably looking at it as we speak."

"Yeah." Nick looked over at her. "Do you really think he blew up at Ecklie?"

"I wouldn't put it past him. Ecklie gets to him like no one else."

"Ecklie gets to us all like that."

Catherine nodded and turned back towards the evidence. As she turned, she spotted Grissom walking briskly past the door. "Grissom."

He stopped and walked into the layout room. She studied him. "Where have you been?"

"Home."

"Did you really break Ecklie's window?"

"Yes."

"Are you suspended?"

"No."

She groaned at his one word answers. "Did you cool off? Is that why you're back at the lab?"

"No. I just came in to pick up the files on our victims. I'm going back home."

She watched him turn to exit. "Grissom."

"Yeah?"

"Why?"

She stepped back as he reentered the room and sighed. "Ecklie had to put away Warrick's case for now. There isn't enough evidence to continue."

"What? He can't do that."

"Nick, he did. He didn't have much of a choice. There isn't any evidence. Don't lose your temper too. It doesn't help anything. If you need me, call me. I'm going back home."

"Yeah, bye." Catherine felt a tear in the corner of her eye. She wiped it away. "Come on Nick, Grissom's right. Losing our temper won't help. You go after Ecklie now, when he's already pissed at Grissom and he won't pause for a second before suspending you."

"But Warrick…"

"I know, but we can't make evidence appear. Something will turn up and when it does, Grissom will make sure Warrick's case gets reopened.

"Yeah, I know."

Catherine gave Nick's shoulder a squeeze. "So where were we?"

"You were about to call Greg and send him on a hunting expedition."

"Right."

"Cath?" She looked over at Nick. "What do you make of Matt Klein? Why would the killer hang him?"

"I don't know. He comes up to the hotel room to check on his fiancé, and the killer is there?"

"The killer is doing what? Posing the bodies by that time? Klein went up after not being able to reach his fiancé."

"So the killer is posing the bodies and hears the door open. He hits Klein on the back of the head."

"What did he hit him with? Nothing in the room is disturbed. Apart from the bodies and the blood spatter from the cast off, the room is immaculate. Did you find any blood on anything not consistent with blood splatter?"

Catherine shook her head. "Only the blood pooled on the bed beneath the victims. He either wiped clean the object he hit Klien with, or he took it with him."

"What about the butt end of the knife?"

"It's a possibility. We'll have to check the wound closely, see if we can find a pattern."

"So he knocks Klein out. Why hang him? Why not stab him? And why did he use the sheet from the other bed, then remake the bed?"

"I don't know." Catherine paused and tried to refocus. She was finding it hard to concentrate, thinking about Warrick and how the investigation into his murder was dropped. "Look, let's take a break and get something to eat."

"Sure." Nick looked at her. "Uh, Cath, where do you want to go?"

Her eyes widened. "Um, let's put this stuff away and go back to my place. We can eat there and get some rest."

"Your place sounds good."

* * *

Sara woke to soft kisses on her eyelids. She stretched her arms above her head and opened her eyes. "Mmm, morning."

Grissom chuckled at her and kissed her forehead. "Good morning."

She looked over and saw him sitting against the headboard, files splayed out on the bed in front of him. "You're up? Did you get much sleep?"

"A few hours."

She nodded and watched him flip through the files. "Find anything interesting?"

"We'll see."

"Why are you looking at these here instead of your office?"

"I wanted to be near you."

"Oh." She smiled and brought her head to his lap. She looked up at him and her face turned serious. "You know, I can delay my trip back and stay here a few more days."

He smiled softly. "You already have your flight booked."

"I can change it. If you want me to stay longer, I'll stay."

"Sara, I want you to stay forever." She closed her eyes and felt his fingers brush at the hair on her forehead. "But, you have to go. Don't stay for me. I want you to come back when you're ready and I know you aren't ready yet. I know you only came home to say goodbye to Warrick."

Sara opened her eyes again and stared deeply into Grissom's. She brought her hand up to his cheek. "Gil, no. I know that is why you think I came home, but it isn't, or at least it isn't the only reason." She dropped her hand and looked away. "When you first told me about Warrick, my instinct was to run away and hide. I knew I had to come back and get closure, but I wasn't sure if I could handle that just yet. It was you that gave me the strength to come back." She looked back up and found Grissom's eyes searching hers. She continued to explain. "When you phoned me, I couldn't process his death. Maybe it was because I wasn't here to experience it all, but it didn't feel real. The only thing that felt real was the pain I heard in your voice. I came back so you could lean on me through this. I thought you needed someone, and maybe you needed me. I was scared to come home and face this, but your needs outweighed mine."

"Sara…I…thank you. I did need someone. I needed you, always you, only you, but you need to say goodbye too."

A sigh escaped from her lips. "I know. I'm still waiting for it to hit me though. We can talk about Warrick in the past tense, but it still doesn't seem like he's gone."

She felt Grissom gently lift her head from his lap. He stood up and pulled his files together, placing them on the dresser. "Come on, I want to show you something." She took the hand he offered her and allowed him to pull her up. "Get dressed."

Eyebrows raised, she complied. When she was finished dressing, she felt him place his hand on the small of her back. He led her to the door, then the car. He opened the car door for her. When he was behind the wheel she turned to him. "Gil, where are we going?"

Grissom gave her a mysterious smile and never answered. She frowned and looked out the window. Twenty minutes later, Grissom pulled onto a side street. She recognized the surroundings and her head shot around. "This is Warrick's old neighborhood."

"Yes, it is." He pointed out her window to a small, well maintained house. "That was his grandmother's house."

"So that's where he was raised."

"Raising hell, yes."

She smiled at him before looking back out her window. They pulled up along the curb. She saw the rec center. "This was where Warrick spent his youth."

"Really?"

"Yeah. Go walk around and take a look. Maybe it will help."

Sara opened her door and noticed the three young men approaching the car. Grissom had moved around the car and stood beside her. "Sara, this is Sean. Sean, Sara. I wanted Sara to see the memorial."

"No problem, Dr. Grissom."

Sara looked to the two other boys, then back to Grissom. She turned to Sean. "This is Ty…Tyler, and this is Jaiden. Guys, this is Dr. Grissom. He's the guy who brought all of the flowers over." Sara shook the boys' hands and watched Grissom do the same.

"Sara, go take a look around. I'll be with you shortly. I want to talk to these boys for a minute."

Sara nodded. She leaned into Grissom as he gave her a sof kiss on the forehead. She smiled and turned towards the building.

The entrance to the building overwhelmed her. There were dozens of bouquets of flowers, overflowing into the hall. A large poster board, filled with pictures of Warrick and the neighborhood kids decorated the wall. Underneath, someone had set up a table with a lit candle. A notebook sat on one side of the candle. It was flipped open. The pages were filled with memories of Warrick Brown. A pen sat beside the notebook for others to record their memories. Sara picked up the pen and wrote her own.

Behind the notebook, Sara found a framed picture of a younger Warrick and his grandmother. On the other side of the candle sat one more framed picture. It was a fairly recent picture of Warrick and the entire graveyard team. She recognized the picture. It was the one that used to sit on the mantle in their house.

In that moment, it hit her. Warrick was really gone; he was really dead. Before, she had felt so…detached. The display brought it all home and it hurt. She found it hard to breathe. Tears welled up in her eyes and suddenly she couldn't stand. She stumbled backwards, finding the wall with her hand. She leaned against it and slowly slid down, pulling her knees to her chest. He head fell in between her knees. She released the tears, first weeping, then sobbing. Her head bobbed up and down as she tried to control her tears. One bob of the head up and she noticed Sean and Jaiden looking down at her. She barely heard Sean's voice. "Jai, get Dr. Grissom."

Her body began to tremble as her sobs grew deeper. She squeezed her eyes shut and tried to calm her rapid breathing.

"Sara."

The gentle voice caused her head to snap up. She met Grissom's concerned eyes. He never said anything else, only kneeled in front of her, tenderly rubbing circles on her knee with his thumb. She stared into his eyes. His hand turned, palm up as he extended his other hand, offering his two hands to her and pulling her up. She felt his arms snake around her waist. She placed her arms around his neck and buried her face in his shoulder. Then, she felt herself being lifted from the ground as he tightened his hold on her.


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter Nine

He looked into the mirror for the fifth time that morning and brushed away the remaining dust on his shoulder. He rarely wore the uniform anymore and was surprised that it hadn't gathered cobwebs from sitting in the closet, ignored for so long. Brass's attention snapped back to the image in front of him. He sighed and adjusted his tie once more. He was ready. It was time to say one final goodbye to Warrick Brown.

* * *

Greg sat on his bed and looked down at the suit in front of him. An annoyed voice brought his attention back to his phone. "Sorry. Like I said earlier, I should be able to fly out on Sunday. You can set the meeting for Monday morning." He took out his planner and listened as the woman on the line set up a new appointment time. He glanced back down at his bed and shook his head. Just as the woman on the line was about to hang up, he stopped her. "One other thing, I'd like to change the dedication." He paused and smiled softly. "Keep the part about my family and the team, but underneath it, have it read 'For Warrick, a man who grew up in Las Vegas and encompassed all that is great about it'."

* * *

He took every shirt out of his closet, searching desperately for a dress shirt that would fit over his cast. After trying on the last one, he sighed. It was useless. He hung the shirts back up and examined what was left. Finally, he decided on a short sleeved button up. He brought the shirt over his shoulders and fumbled as he worked the buttons through their holes. It was not an easy job for a man in a cast.

Finally dressed, Nick sat on the edge of his bed. He wanted a moment to gather his thoughts before Greg arrived. His eyes wandered down to his cast. He shook his head. Warrick would have kicked his ass for that one.

* * *

She heard a faint knock just as she stepped out of the shower. The door opened and Grissom peered in. "Sara, are you done with the shower?"

"Yeah, it's all yours." She began to towel herself off and watched as he maneuvered himself around her, stopping briefly in front of her as he brushed by. When he stripped off his boxers and stepped into the shower, she exited the bathroom.

Entering the bedroom, she sat on the bed, towel still wrapped around her. She told herself she had to get ready, but found she couldn't move from her position. She mentally chastised herself, but still didn't move to get up. Instead, she remained seated and let her thoughts run free.

She thought about death and how she had always felt it's presence weighing down on her until she felt she had to run and escape from it all. She thought about Grissom and how he was the only one able to lift her from beneath the weight and give her the strength to continue. She thought about everything that she had lost, but also everything she had gained over the years, and she thought about Warrick Brown.

* * *

Her hands shook as she tried to do her hair and apply her make-up. She had made several attempts at both, but had to abort each effort. Finally, she gave up and asked her mother and daughter for help.

She sat on her bed, smoothing her shaking hands over her black dress as Lily managed to fix her hair while Lindsay applied the make-up. Her trembling form made the task difficult and they had to ask her to hold still. She forced herself to cut off her thoughts and stare straight ahead.

"All finished, mom."

The words were all she needed to allow the thoughts to seep back in and release the emotion she had been holding in for the past twenty minutes. However, instead of returning to the soft tremor and quiet tears she'd shed before, she began shaking, almost violently. She relaxed slightly when she felt Lindsay's hand clasp her own and felt her mother's arms come around her body and pull her back into her mother's embrace.

She wept as she thought about her friend, her great friend. Her daughter gripped her hand while her mother gently rocked and soothed her. Slowly, she began to relax and the shakes began to subside. She stood and steadied herself, straightening herself out in front of the mirror. She wiped her eyes and steeled her face. She was going to be strong for Warrick.

* * *

Sara was sitting on the bed, half dressed, when he came out of the bathroom. He crossed the room towards her and moved to sit beside her. Suddenly she sprang from the bed and turned her back to him, bringing the strap of her dress over her shoulder as she moved. He stood, puzzled by her reactions, hands wanting to reach out to her, but stopping short of grasping her shoulders. He was afraid she was hiding her pain from him. "Sara, you don't have to hide from me. You know that."

He took another step closer and watched as she turned her head, looking at him from over her shoulder. "I'm not. I, uh, need you to zip up my dress."

"Oh." He felt an enormous sense of relief. "Of course." He bridged the remaining space between them and tenderly ran his hand up her spine before following the movement with her zipper. He fastened the clasp on top and leaned forward, placing a gentle kiss on the back of her shoulder blade. He turned her in his arms and stepped back. "You look beautiful."

"Do I? I mean, I didn't really know what to wear. Should I have worn black? Is this alright?"

He gazed at the lilac colored dress on her and smiled. "It's fine, Sara."

"Great." He felt her eyes roam over his body and stop at the towel around his waist. "You need to get ready."

He gave her a smile as she moved back into the bathroom. He turned back towards the bed and glanced down at the suit she had laid out for him. He sighed and began to dress.

He brought his jacket over his shoulders and smiled at Sara as she reentered, hair tied back. He brlushed when she smiled appreciatively. He handed Sara her jacket. "You ready?"

"Yeah."

He helped her with her jacket and led her to the door by the small of her back. As he stepped out the door, he took a deep breath, trying to focus on what was important. Today was not the day to think about the lab's inability to find Warrick's killer. It was not the day to think about the latest serial killer that left the lab with no evidence to go on. He looked over at Sara. She gave him a soft smile and grasped his hand. It was the day to take comfort in loved ones. He gazed into her eyes and saw the life in front of him. He squeezed her hand and brought it to his lips, lovingly kissing the back of it. "Come on, it's time to celebrate the life of Warrick Brown."


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10

Faces. There were so many faces. People milled around outside the church, their faces smiling sadly as friends came together in grief and in comfort. He looked around for the one face who had always brought comfort to him. He searched, but couldn't locate Sara amongst the crowd. He noticed Catherine in the distance, a sad smile playing across her face as she spoke to Doc Robbins and his wife. He smiled softly and nodded at her before continuing to scan the crowd.

As he moved through the people, he was followed closely by Nick. Nick hadn't spoken to Greg since he picked the Texan up. Instead, Nick had remained mute, responding only with a nod or shake of his head. "Nick, do you want to sit down in the church?" Nick shook his head again. Greg sighed and kept walking.

He paused in his movements and spotted the lab techs. Mandy, Wendy, Bobby, Henry, Hodges and Archie were standing in a circle, talking. He approached and greeted them, being drawn into their conversation, but only half listening as he continued to glance around the area. He looked over to see Nick staring straight ahead. He turned back to the lab techs and offered them a smile before his eyes began to wander over the crowd once again.

His gaze stopped on Brass. The detective was in uniform and talking to Sofia Curtis. He smiled, happy she had come back for the funeral. His eyes wandered further and stopped on an old lady speaking to the minister. She looked like she could be Warrick's grandmother, if Warrick's grandmother were still alive. Greg took a moment to study her. A friend of the grandmother? A great aunt perhaps? She was definitely from Warrick's old neighborhood. She spoke comfortably with the minister as if she knew him, her sorrow filled eyes looking as though they had lost everything. Greg shook his head sadly. His eyes moved further along and finally, he spotted her. Sara was walking through the crowd in their direction, although it did not look like she saw them.

Greg looked to the group in front of him. "Excuse me." He turned to Nick and whispered, "Sara's here." Nick's head snapped up and Greg pointed to where she was walking. He moved towards her and drew her into a fierce hug. "Sara, I've been looking for you."

"I was looking for you guys too." Sara smiled at them. Greg stepped back so that Nick and Sara could embrace.

"Nick, are you okay?"

Greg turned to Sara. "He hasn't said anything all morning." Sara nodded.

"Let's go into the church." He watched as Sara took Nick's hand and led him into the church. Greg followed behind with other people filing in behind him.

* * *

He couldn't stop holding her hand. He grasped it tighter and tighter, practically throwing her into the pew before taking a seat next to her, never letting go of her hand. He didn't notice Greg slide in next to her, or Brass and Sofia slide in next to Greg moments later. He was only aware that the church was full when the minister approached the pulpit and Sara gave his hand a squeeze. He looked up to the minister and clutched Sara's hand even harder.

The minister began to speak. Lost in his own world, Nick could see the minister's lips moving, but couldn't hear what the man was saying. He stared straight ahead as the funeral played out silently in front of him.

He began to dream. Memories of playing Warrick on the Play Station, or laughing over drinks began to seep into his brain. He remembered competing over everything, betting on anything that had the possibility of making a wager. He remembered playing Black Jack with Warrick when one of them had a tough case, and he remembered Warrick's efforts to help him move past his abduction.

The thoughts of Warrick cheering him up after the abduction led him to remember the Halloween following, when Warrick decided they should dress up as the Key Stone Cops, telling him it would be a great way to get some licks in on Greg. A few days later, he, Warrick and Greg were dressed as the Key Stone Cops, reeking havoc on the lab. Catherine had laughed, Grissom pretended to be annoyed, but they could see the mirth in his eyes, and Sara had unintentionally joined in, not quite against her own will.

Nick smiled at the memory. It was the happiest they'd been. The team was back together, Greg was growing as a CSI, Warrick was in the honeymoon stage of his new marriage, Catherine was oddly relieved to be back on grave and no longer a supervisor, Grissom had relaxed and smiled more…a lot more, the weight that had been on Sara's shoulders seemed to have lifted, and he, well he was happy to be alive and surrounded by such an amazing group of people that he both loved and respected. But, that was before Brass was shot, before Greg was beaten, before Sara was kidnapped and left in the desert, before everything around them began to weigh them down. It was before Warrick was killed.

Images of Warrick's body in his arms crept into his mind and suddenly the room shrank. It was small, very small, and he couldn't breathe. Sara's hand, which he clung to so desperately before, now seemed to be a weight holding him down. He had to get out. He ripped his hand from her grip and ran down the aisle, out of the church.

"Nick?"

He turned. Sara had followed him out.

"Nick, what happened?"

"The room, it got so small."

"Small? What do you mean?"

"In my mind. I saw Warrick's body, then the coffin."

"Warrick's coffin?"

He shook his head violently, looking at the ground. He looked up and met Sara's eyes. "My coffin."

"Oh god, Nick." She was rubbing circles on his back. He clung to her again.

"I couldn't breathe."

"It's okay. It's okay." He felt her pull back and grab his hand, pulling him to sit on the steps before placing her arm around him and drawing him closer.

"I should have been there."

"What?"

He looked straight at her. "I should have been there. I should have left the diner with him. I asked him to go out with me, but he wanted a shower and some sleep. I should have left with him. He left and I stayed."

"Okay, um…"

"If only I had left with him."

"No Nick, don't do this to yourself. It wouldn't have changed things. You would have went to your truck, Warrick to his car and he still would have been shot." He felt her hold on him tighten.

"No. If the killer saw us both come out, he might not have shot Warrick."

"You don't know that."

"I know I should know what happened. I was there. If I left with him, maybe I would have noticed something, someone. I just want to know what happened." He began to cry and moved into Sara's embrace. "I want to know who killed him."

"We all want that, Nick."

He pulled back, out of her arms and wiped at his eyes, forcing himself to stop the tears. "But I should know. I was there, Sara, in that diner when Warrick was shot." He dropped his head and stared down at his lap. "I stayed to pick up a girl."

"Um, okay. Was she pretty?"

"What?" His head popped up and he looked over at her curiously.

"The girl in the diner. Was she pretty?"

"Sara."

"What do you want me to say Nick? That you should feel bad for wanting to pick up a girl? I know you, Nick. You're very loyal and very trustworthy. You didn't know what was going to happen and if you did, I know you would have left with him."

"Warrick was shot while I was hitting on her."

"You didn't know that would happen. It was chance, Nick and it wouldn't have changed anything. Whoever shot Warrick was going to do it anyways and would have done it if you were in your truck or in the diner."

"I know that." He sighed. "But it doesn't change how I feel. I was there, when Warrick was shot and I don't know what happened."

"You'll figure it out. Grissom will figure it out." He felt her arm come back around his shoulder and pull him in.

"He was my best friend, Sara, my best friend."

"I know." Her voice was soft. He leaned into her and let go of all the tears he had been holding in. He cried against her.

He stayed in her embrace for a few minutes before pulling back and looking at her. "Sara, have you ever lost anyone close to you before?"

"I, um, I guess that depends on how you define close." He shot her a look. "My father died when I was young."

"Oh, I'm sorry."

"That's okay. It was a long time ago."

"I've never lost anyone close, I mean before Warrick. My parents, my family, are all alive and well. Hell, even all of my grandparents are still alive. They all say they're too stubborn to let go of their lives."

"Stokes family trait?"

Nick lifted his head and couldn't help but laugh. "Something like that."

"It's nice to see you laugh. Are you ready to go back in?"

"One more minute."

He held her hand to prevent her from leaving and smiled softly when she sat back down next to him.

"You smiled in the church."

"What?"

"A few minutes before you bolted out of there, you smiled. What were you thinking about?"

He smiled at her. "The Halloween we dressed as the Key Stone Cops."

She chuckled. "Right. You and Warrick kept nailing Greg with those blow up batons."

"You joined in."

"Well, it went with the costume. I can't believe you went out and rented me one too; slapped the hat on me right in front of Hodges."

He grinned. "Well, you needed a costume."

"How did you know I wouldn't have one?"

Nick smirked at her. "Right, Sara, the only one less likely would have been Grissom."

"Hey, I wore the costume."

"Yeah, and it looked ridiculous on you, all baggy and hanging off your funny, skinny frame."

"It's not my fault they don't make Key Stone Cop costumes for tall, thin women. Besides, I don't think I looked any more ridiculous than Warrick with his curly hair sticking out from under the hat that was too small for his head."

Nick laughed and threw his head back. "You're right, it was a toss up."

"It was fun, even if I looked ridiculous."

"You looked adorable. Everyone thought so."

"They sure enjoyed the show."

"Now everyone. Ecklie wasn't impressed and Grissom looked like he was trying to decided whether or not he could enjoy it."

"He enjoyed it. He was a little jealous that you and Warrick were picking me up by my waist and spinning me around in the air, but her was mostly happy to see everyone together and smiling again."

"He was jealous?"

"A little. Either you or Warrick had me in your arms all night."

"You were laughing, and we wouldn't have had to pick you up and get you out of the way if you had ganged up on Greg with us."

"Greg needed the help."

"Yeah, it's too bad you weren't enough."

"Ouch." He smiled when she pretended to look hurt.

"So, you okay now?"

"Better. I'm really going to miss him."

Sara nodded. "Let's go back in. I want to hear the eulogy."

"Yeah, me too." He took a deep breath and stood up, pulling Sara up with him. "Sara, she was pretty."

* * *

Grissom stood up in front and looked over the guests. Sean and five other young men from the rec center serving as pall bearers, sat in the front row in the seats that had been reserved for them. Behind them sat Al's wife, Al, Sofia, Brass and Greg. Catherine, her mother, and Lindsay sat behind them, along with Vartann, Vega and Vega's wife. All of the lab techs from nightshift made up the next row, followed by other employees up the lab, some CSIs and lab techs from swing. David and his wife sat quietly in the back. On the other side of the aisle, a very pregnant Tina Brown sat, holding a man's hand and crying softly. She was surrounded by what he assumed was her family. Behind them, Ecklie, the Under Sheriff, and the Sheriff sat with their wives. The rest of the church was filled with people he didn't know. He assumed a lot of them were from the neighborhood.

His eyes traveled from the empty seats next to Greg, to the door. He needed to see Sara before he could begin. When he entered the church after talking with the minister, he noticed that Nick and Greg were flanking her, Nick's hand wrapped tight around hers as she offered Nick her support. He didn't want to disrupt their seating arrangement, so he sat in the front pew, next to the pall bearers. It was a good place to be seated for when his time came to talk.

He had turned around when he heard Nick leap up and run out of the church, only to see Sara follow behind him. He hoped they would be returning soon so he could meet Sara's eyes and gain the reassurance he needed. He looked to the door and sighed in relief when it opened and Sara and Nick quietly made their way to their seats. He locked eyes with Sara and began.

"I was very humbled when asked to come up here and eulogize the life of Warrick Brown. Warrick was born on October 10, 1971. His mother died at a very young age, leaving his grandmother to raise him. And she raised him well, instilling many values into his mind and into his heart. He spoke reverently of his grandmother and the lessons she taught him. So often he spoke of her, we felt we all knew her and could learn from her. When his grandmother passed, a few short years ago, Warrick lost one of the most important people in his life, but he never forgot her influence.

"He knew that life was short. He wanted to live life to the fullest. He wanted to love and be loved. Three years ago, he eloped with his then girlfriend, Tina Jackson. Sadly, the marriage did not end well and the couple divorced two years later. It was a failure that would hurt Warrick. He wished he could have been a better husband to his wife and spent more time with her while he was with her.

"Warrick was a good man. He was sincere, compassionate and passionate. He cared deeply for the people he worked with and the people who raised him. Warrick never forgot where he came from. I have heard many stories about the people from this neighborhood he helped, even after he left many years ago. He continued to influence the people there and became a mentor to many young men here today. Warrick, himself, spoke openly about growing up in this neighborhood and the people who helped raise him. This community, the people in it, were important to him and he loved you all.

"Warrick was a man of many talents. He was a gifted musician and composer and a very promising baseball player. Instead of pursuing those talents, he chose to educate himself, going to college before settling into a career in forensics. In his eleven years at the crime lab, I came to know him as a passionate criminalist. He was a leader. He never tired of his quest for the truth and became was a respected member of the lab and our team. Recently, I was told that it was Warrick who showed what it meant to be part of a team. It is a lesson he taught us all.

"As we gather to celebrate the life of Warrick Brown, I cannot help but think of a stanza from an ee cummings poem.

"_may my mind stroll about hungry  
__and fearless and thirsty and supple  
__and even if it's sunday may i_ _be wrong  
__for whenever men are right they are not young_

"This is how Warrick lived his life. He lived in the pursuit of truth and knowledge, not afraid of being wrong. He lived each day for itself. He was young, in body and in spirit. He was not infallible. He made many mistakes, often serious, over the years, but he never hid from them. He was the first to admit them and always took the steps necessary to correct them. He was not afraid of asking for guidance when he needed it. He was very aware of who he was. He was aware of his shortcomings. I'm not sure he was ever aware of the exceptional man that he was.

"Warrick was taken from us to early. He was young. He left behind no family but many people who loved him, from the neighborhood to the people he worked with. We will all miss him.

"Thank You."

He met Sara's eyes again as he stepped down from the podium. He slipped back into his seat in the front row and listen as the service concluded. When the people filed out, he walked to the exit and met Sara. "Hey, good job on the eulogy."

"Thanks."

"I'm sorry I didn't save you a seat next to me. Nick…"

"I understand." He smiled softly.

"Gil, I can't go with you to the graveyard. I'm going to go with Nick and Greg. Nick needs someone to hold his hand. He really needs a friend."

Grissom nodded. "And, I think Catherine may need a good friend right now too."

Grissom looked over and watched as Catherine's mother helped a shaking Catherine to her car. "Go, Gil, ride with them. I'll see you later." He turned back to Sara and returned her soft smile before hurrying to help Catherine into the back seat of her car and climbing in next to her.

* * *

Catherine grasped the hand of the man next to her. "Thank You."

He smiled. "What are friends for?"

She wiped the tears from her eyes and rested her head on his shoulder.

"How are you doing, Catherine?"

"Not well. He was too young to die." She squeezed her eyes shut and tried to stop the next onslaught of tears.

As the car moved along, and she rested on Grissom's shoulder, Catherine allowed her thoughts to drift to Warrick. They had chemistry and she had loved him. She knew that she had never been in love with him, but had always wondered what it would have been like to be with him, even for a short time. It would have been a passionate affair, no doubt, but it never would have lasted. They were never meant to be together, never would have connected on that deepest, most intimate level, she was sure. Still, she would have always loved him. They would have always remained great friends.

She thought of the woman that Warrick did think he could spend his life with. Catherine wondered if Tina had ever realized what she had. Catherine knew that Tina had taken Warrick for granted while they were married and wondered if Tina regretted that now. A part of Catherine hated Tina, hated her for what she'd done to Warrick, cheating on him and divorcing him, becoming a catalyst in his downward spiral. At the same time, Catherine felt sorry for Tina. She was sorry that Tina couldn't appreciate the love of the man she was married too, sorry that Tina might be realizing what she lost too late.

Catherine had watched Tina sob during the service. She knew it was sincere. She had felt Tina's pain. The end of a marriage does not signal the end of love. She loved Eddie, to his death, and she knew that as much as you want to hate someone, want not to feel the pain when they're gone, you still do. Both Eddie's and Sam's deaths taught her that. As much as she hated Tina for hurting Warrick, she couldn't begrudge the woman her pain.

The car turned into the graveyard and she felt Grissom put his hand over hers. This was it. In a few minutes, the car would stop and she would have to watch as they lowered Warrick's body into the ground. She would never see his incredible green eyes again. She would never feel the electricity bolt through her when she stood close to him and his eyes fixed on her. He was gone. Her amazing, caring, beautiful friend was gone and with him, a part of her was gone too.

* * *

She held Nick's hand, gazing at the man in front of her as they followed the coffin to the grave. Her tears fell as the minister spoke and the coffin was lowered into the ground, committing Warrick's body to the earth. She squeezed Nick's hand tighter and took comfort in the grasp he returned.

She looked over to see Grissom holding onto Catherine. People around them began to leave and it was the five of them remaining. The stood silently, staring down into the grave in front of them, tears in all of their eyes.

Greg was the first to leave, telling Nick and Sara he'd be at the car. Sara nodded and looked to the remaining three around her. Her team. The people who took her in, wholeheartedly, reluctantly or otherwise, eight years ago. Now, one of them was in the ground below them. She continued to stare, tears filling her eyes before falling gently to the ground.

After a few minutes, Lindsay came back to the grave and spoke a few soft words into her mother's ear. Sara watched as Catherine nodded and allowed Lindsay to lead her away. Sara looked towards Grissom. He smiled sadly at her before following his ride to their car. Sara turned back to the grave and stood silently with Nick. After a moment, she stepped towards him. "We should go. Greg's waiting." She watched him nod and tugged on his hand, leading him to the waiting Greg.

They drove back to the rec center where there were drinks and snacks out for all of the mourners. People were in small groups, talking amongst themselves. Sara found herself being drawn away from Nick and into conversation by the many people she hadn't seen in months. She paid little attention to their attempts to engage her in conversation as her eyes followed Grissom around the room, watching as he occasionally stole looked away and about the room.

Wendy and Mandy were speaking with her when she noticed Brass, Sofia and Doc Robbins approach the spot where Grissom and Catherine were standing. She watched as Grissom spoke to the group. His sad face and red eyes drew her attention completely to him. He shook his head at something they said and his gaze dropped to the floor below him. Her heart ached. A tear slid down her cheek at the sight of him looking so defeated.

Her heart and feet reacted instantly, carrying her away from the other two women, towards the man she loved. She saw him look up and meet her eyes as she approached. Brushing by his companions, she threw herself into his open arms and wrapped her own arms around him. He immediately pulled her in closer, burying his head in her neck. She stood on her tip-toes, unaware of the gazes fixed upon them. She held him tight and stroked his head when he began to weep into her shoulder. She let her own tears fall and held him tighter, unable and unwilling to ever let go.


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11

The sun filtered into the room casting a soft light across her sleeping form. He laid in the bed, running his hands up and down her arms, studying the beauty in front of him. He sighed and leaned forward, placing a light kiss on her forehead. "Sara, time to wake up. I promised Catherine we'd have breakfast at her place."

He smiled affectionately when her eyes flickered open and her mouth curved up into a soft smile. Her hand came up and cupped his cheek. "Hey, how are you doing this morning?"

"Better."

"Good. Yesterday was...rough."

"Yeah." Grissom reached down and grasped her hand in his. "I'm glad I had you to help me get through it."

"Me too. I'm glad I had you too."

"Sara, if it weren't for you, I'm not sure I would have made it through the eulogy. I needed to see you before I could even start. I needed to grieve with you. Yesterday, nothing felt right until I had you in my arms."

Sara nodded. He wiped away a tear that had run down her cheek. "Thank you, for being there for me, for comforting me, for letting me finally break down and cry into your shoulder."

"Anytime Gil. I love you."

He nodded and kissed her softly, pulling her into his arms. Her arms wrapped around him and began stroking his back. He allowed a few tears to fall from his eyes, onto her shoulder. He would have been content to hold her all morning, but he knew Catherine was waiting and wouldn't hesitate to interupt them. He pulled back and kissed the tip of her nose. "We should get going." He sat up and pulled Sara up with him, watching her eyes as they seemed to reluctantly accept that they had to get moving. He grasped her hand in his and turned her face towards his. "Let's get this over with, then we can spend the afternoon alone together."

* * *

"Hey everybody, look who I found." When the people in Catherine's living room raised their heads, Brass pushed Sofia through the door.

"Catherine, thanks for having me. I hope it's okay that Jim invited me."

"Of course. Come in."

Jim smirked and pushed her further into the room before coming to stand next to Catherine. He cast a glance around the room. Nick and Sara were sitting on the sofa. Greg was on the floor in front of them. "Where's Gil?"

"In the kitchen, talking to Doc Robbins and his wife."

"Are they all staying too?"

"What?"

He chuckled and turned to Sofia. "Catherine's running a B&B here. Greg and Nick have stayed all week, and now, Grissom, Sara, Doc and his wife are all here? At 7:00 in the morning?"

"Jim, we work grave. Doc Robbins just got off shift. I invited him and his wife for breakfast, just like I invited you."

He was about to speak when Sofia cut in. "Thank you Catherine. It was very thoughtful."

Brass looked around the room again. "Anyone else here?"

"David stopped by briefly after shift. Archie and Wendy are on their way over from the lab. They said they'd drop in for a few moments, but they aren't going to stay long. Wendy's worried about imposing."

"Where's the kid?"

"Asleep in my room. She'll be up for school soon. Make yourselves at home. Breakfast will be in about a half hour. My mom had to go pick up a few things from the store."

"Guests eating you out of house and home?" He grinned when Catherine cast him an annoyed look. He winked at Sofia. "You know, Catherine, if I'd of know what a great B&B you've got here, I'd of booked myself a room."

"You're a funny man, Jim." She shook her head at him and smiled.

"I knew you thought so." His smile grew. It was nice to be able to joke again. They'd said their goodbyes yesterday. Today, it was time to move forward.

* * *

Greg looked around, desperate for an ally. Nick and Sara were ganging up on him. He wasn't worried about Nick. Nick had brought the subject before becoming silent and staring off around the house. Sara, on the other hand, decided to pursue it, relentlessly. He continued to scan about and noticed Sofia laughing at the conversation between Brass and Catherine. "Sofia, come over here. I need your help."

"Yes, Sofia, come here." Greg shot his head to look at Sara's and could see the mischief dancing in her eyes as Sofia approached. "Sofia, did you hear that young Greg here is about to become a published author?"

"No, I haven't heard that. Is that true, Greg?"

"Greg wrote a book about Vegas. His publisher is flying him to LA for a meeting."

Greg groaned. This wasn't turning out like he'd hoped. He'd forgotten what a tease Sara could be. He winced, waiting for Sofia to join in."

"Congratulations Greg." His eyes shot to Sofia's. He breathed a sigh of relief. Her congratulations seemed genuine. "When are they flying you in?"

"Sunday."

"They're flying him business."

"Really? Wow Greg, must be some book. What does it have? Mobsters? Showgirls? The whole dirty underside of Vegas?"

No, this was not turning out as he'd hoped. Sofia had now joined in. Some ally she turned out to be. "That's it, I'm taking you all out of the dedication."

"Come on Greg, don't be like that."

He caught Sara's playful look and grinned. "Well, you could always make it up to me. I'm all yours until Sunday, Sara."

"Yeah, two days with a hot shot author? Too bad I'll have to pass."

"You don't know what you're missing. What about you Sofia, do you want the chance to make it up to me?"

"Nice try Greg. I know I wasn't in your dedication to begin with." Sofia grinned and leaned into him, whispering in his ear, "Besides, you wouldn't know what to do with me."

Greg blushed. Yep, some ally. He looked up to see Sara's amused glance and blushed even further. He should have never called Sofia over.

* * *

Greg's beet red face was priceless. She wished she'd heard what Sofia had whispered into his ear to cause that reaction. Greg was normally fairly unflappable when flirting. She turned and raised an eyebrow at Sofia. When Sofia only shrugged, Sara let out a laugh.

She'd forgotten how much fun they were to be around. It was easy with Greg; he was so carefree. It was nice to see him smile again. The few times she'd seen him the past week, he hadn't smiled. His eyes had been sad and she missed the smiling, easy going Greg. When he became a CSI, she watched him mature as he experienced a new, harsh reality he hadn't seen before. Sara worried that Warrick's murder would have huge reprucussions on him. When they began to tease and laugh and smile, she allowed herself to breathe a sigh of relief. Greg would change, no doubt, but he would be alright. She wasn't sure about Nick.

Leaning back against the arm of the sofa, she looked up at Nick, who'd been silent for the most part, but seemed to have been following along earlier. It shocked her to see that he'd spaced out. Wanting the familiarity of just being able to hang out with him again, she grew determined to coax out a smile. She looked to the blond beside Greg. "Sofia, did you learn any new interrogation techniques in Phoenix?" Sofia raised her eyebrows at Sara. Sara continued, "Greg's easy, but Nick," she indicated the silent man next to her, "well, Nick is a little tougher."

Nick's face shot to hers, his eyes questioning where she could be going with this.

"He's got a crush on a girl, but I can't find out anything about her."

"You're just jealous, Sara." Sara smiled, so far so good. She decided to continue.

"If she's anything like the girls you normally go for, I'm not."

"Well, she's not. She's…sweet."

Sara's eyebrows raised. Her tone went from teasing to questioning. "Sweet? Really? What do you mean by sweet?"

"Just sweet...really sweet…and shy. She's the kind of girl you take home to your mother."

Sara gawked at him before noticing Greg and Sofia doing the same. Nick looked wistful and sad at the same time. Sara knew he was thinking about how he stayed in the diner to talk to her instead of leaving with Warrick. She tried to ease the tension. "Wow Nick, you've never dated one of those before."

Greg must have picked up on what Sara was trying to do because he decided to jump in. "Yeah, well, Sara, you're the kind of girl I'd take home to my mother."

When Nick let out a laugh, Sara knew the tension had been relieved. After internally thanking him, she smiled and turned to Greg. "Greg, I'm the one girl you can be sure of never taking home to your mother."

"Sara, you wound me."

"You'll survive." She stood up and noticed Grissom watching her from the doorway, smiling softly at her. She smiled at him before turning back to her friends. "Listen, I'm going to head out."

Nick looked at her. "Call me tomorrow?"

She shook her head. "I'm flying out tomorrow." She watched as Greg and Nick's faces dropped.

"You're leaving tomorrow? Sara, we've barely seen you, now you're just going to disappear again?"

"Greg, I'm sorry. I have to go back, but I promise I'll keep in touch this time."

Nick stood up and pulled her into a hug. "You better. Take care Sara. I'll miss you."

Sara nodded and completed her goodbyes. She pulled Grissom away from the house and wiped at her damp eyes. Grissom squeezed her hand. "I know it's hard, but you have to go back to move forward. Nick understands and I'm sure Jim does too. If Greg and Catherine don't now, they will."

Sara nodded and followed Grissom to the car. She had one last afternoon with him. One afternoon to spend with the most compassionate and understanding person she knew. One afternoon to spend with the love of her life. She wouldn't spend it questioning her decision to leave him or her friends, just as she knew he wouldn't spend it dwelling on the two unsolved cases plaguing him. They would find somewhere peaceful to sit and hold each other and just feel each other, letting the rest of the world fade away.


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter 12

_Shadows traversing acr__oss her back in the moonlight, her head, resting gently on her folded arms, turning, her beautiful eyes sparkling as her mouth turns up into a smile. He can't stop gazing at her. She laughs and shakes her head before turning it back towards the dog resting under the tree. Smiling, he moves closer and reaches to stroke the curve of her back. She turns her head again, her mouth resting on her hand…_

"Grissom!"

He sat up quickly, raising his head, clearing his mind.

"Grissom."

It was over. The dreams, the memories of earlier that evening disappeared from his head as he focused on the man standing in the doorway. "What can I do for you, Conrad?"

He watched the lab director sit across from him. "Grave is down to four CSIs."

"I know."

"Well, you also know that Grave can't run on four CSIs. Now, I waited for Warrick Brown's funeral to pass before bringing this up, but it can't wait any longer. You need to hire a new CSI."

He sighed. He knew it was true, but it was too early. What kind of atmosphere would the new hire be stepping into? How could he replace Warrick? He couldn't. He needed more time.

"Gil, this can't wait. You're short. You spread your CSIs too thin and the bad guys get away. Now, here's a list of possible candidates to look over."

He glanced down at the pile in front of him. "How many are connected to the department, Conrad?"

His narrowed eyes focused on Ecklie until Ecklie broke the contact and looked to the pile. "All of them."

"No."

"Excuse me?"

"I'm not hiring anyone connected to the department, Conrad."

"Gil, just look at them. The sheriff has a nephew in there, just graduated from WLVU, could be good for the lab."

"No."

"Gil."

"I won't hire someone connected to the department. You know it wasn't a beat cop behind Gedda. You know Daniel Pritchard never killed Warrick. He wouldn't go near PD when everyone was looking for him. It was someone else, someone higher up. Now, you want me to hire a new CSI with connections to the same department, someone I'm not sure I can trust? My team needs someone they can trust."

"You can't blame these people because Brown got himself killed. They are all qualified."

He squeezed his eyes shut, trying to reel in his anger. He opened his eyes glared at Ecklie. "Warrick didn't get himself killed, Ecklie. He was murdered. As for your qualified candidates, my team won't trust any of them."

"Are you sure about that? Grissom, if you won't hire one of those candidates, I will." Ecklie stood up and headed to the door.

"Conrad, why is it that the lab has a policy against people engaging in a romantic relationship when they're on the same team, but it doesn't have a policy against nepotism?"

Ecklie turned and looked at him. "Is that what this is about? You and Sidle?"

"No."

"It is. You're still upset about her having to switch shifts and you blame me for her leaving you. Now, she's back in town, right? Or was it just for Brown's funeral? You want her back? Fine, hire her, have Catherine do her evaluations; she can stay on your shift. You trust her, hire her. Ask her to fill in temporarily until you find someone else or she decides to come back permanently."

He stared at Ecklie, not quite believing what the man had said. Going over it in his head, he sighed. "She won't come back, Conrad. She doesn't want this life anymore." He paused and looked down at his hands balanced on the edge of his desk. "Look, I'll hire someone right away, but he or she has to be from outside the department. I can't, I won't hire anyone connected to the department until we find out who killed Warrick." Ecklie nodded and left the room.

Grissom leaned back in his chair and closed his eyes. It took only a moment before his mind became flooded with images of Sara as he left her, lying on a blanket in the backyard, smiling into her hand before lifting her head to kiss him. She might come back temporarily if he asked her to, but he couldn't do that to her. The last time he asked her to fill in indefinitely, indefinitely turned into over seven years. He knew it would be a great way to keep her around, but he couldn't put his selfish needs ahead of hers again. This time she would be sacrificing too much. He wanted her to be happy. He had to let her go. Seeing her eyes shine they way they were earlier that evening, life dancing across them, was more important than having her around all the time. It was his turn to make the sacrifice. Saddened, but resolved, he opened his eyes and looked down at his watch. It was time to hand out assignments.

* * *

She found him in the locker room, staring at the locker in front of him. She sat down next to him and cradled her hands in her lap, leaning forward and looking straight ahead. She took a deep breath. "Warrick's locker."

Nick nodded but didn't look at her. Tears in her eyes, she turned to him and reached for his hand. "Is this the first time you've been in the locker room since…" She let her words trail off as she watched him nod again.

"Have you looked in it?"

"It's empty. What do you think they did with everything?"

She shrugged. "Emptied it out; took the lab issued items and gave the rest to Tina."

She felt Nick pull from her grasp. He stood and opened the locker door, looking inside briefly before slamming shut again. "Nick, you're hand!"

Her heart shattered when he turns and looked down at her. The despair in his eyes matched hers. She saw her own emotions reflected. They were both grieving deeply, but as much as she was hurting, she felt that Nick's pain was worse. "Nicky." She stood quickly and pulled Nick to her, hugging him. "I loved him too, Nicky."

"I miss him, Cath."

"I know."

"Someone else will be putting their stuff in his locker."

"I know." She gave his a gentle squeeze, then released him. They both turned to the locker.

"Do you think Grissom will let me switch lockers? Take Warrick's? Somebody new can have mine?"

Catherine nodded and wiped away the fresh tears from her eyes. "Yeah, I think he'll be okay with that." She paused. "I think that would be a great idea. I'll talk to him."

"Thanks."

He was quiet again. She placed her hand on his cast. "Nicky? Come on, it's time for assignments."

She led him from the locker room and watched him meander down the hall to the break room. She followed until she reached Grissom's office, catching Grissom just as he was exiting. She matched his stride, walking silently beside him. When they reached the break room, she put her hand on his forearm, stopping him from entering the room. "Gil, Nick wants to switch lockers."

She watched Grissom raised an eyebrow in question. "He'd like Warrick's locker. He doesn't want anyone else to have it."

"I suppose that would be best."

She studied his downcast eyes. "Thank You."

Grissom nodded and stepped into the break room. She followed and sat down next to Greg, waiting for Grissom to hand out assignments.

"Greg, since you have to fly out on Sunday, I'm giving you a robbery. Liquor store on Freemont was held up. Nick, Cath, missing person, seventeen year old female. Cath, can I speak to you while Nick moves his things into his new locker?"

Catherine smiled and turned to Nick. She gave him a wink as he swiftly flew from the room. She turned back to Grissom and waited for him to speak.

"I need you to take shift tonight."

Her smile grew. She grabbed the slip from his hand. "Go."

* * *

The sound of the front door opening stirred her from her sleep. She rushed to the entrance. "Gil, what…"

Quickly his finger was on her lips, stopping her speech. She stared at him, eyes wide. His finger fell from her lips.

"'Here we are at last face to face,  
we have met,  
we have lost nothing.  
We have felt each other lip to lip,  
we have changed a thousand times  
between us death and life,  
all that we were bringing  
like dead medals  
we threw to the bottom of the sea,  
all that we learned  
was of no use to us:  
we begin again,  
death and life.  
And here we survive,  
pure, with the purity that we created,  
broader than the earth that could not lead us astray  
eternal as the fire that will burn  
as long as life endures'"

She smiled through her tears. "Who said that?"

"Wrote it. Pablo Neruda. It was the ending to his poem, 'Ode and Burgeonings'."

"It's beautiful."

He stepped towards her. "Do you think it holds true for us?"

She bit her lip and nodded.

"Here we survive."

"Here we survive," she repeated, whispering. She gazed up at him. "What are you doing home?"

"You go back to San Francisco tomorrow." She nodded. His next words were soft. "Ecklie offered you a job."

"What?"

"Grave's short. Ecklie offered you the job until we can find someone else to fill the position."

She stared at him, a million neurons firing in her head. "I, um, if you need…"

"I don't want you to come back."

"Sorry?"

"I don't want you to come back. You've overcome so much. If you came back, you'd be sacrificing too much and I won't let you do it."

She looked down. Her voice was so quiet, she barely heard her own next words. "What will I be sacrificing if I leave again?"

She closed her eyes as he took another step forward and cupped her cheek. "Nothing." Her eyes opened and shot up to his. "Sara, you don't have to sacrifice anything, a few months together maybe, but that's it."

Her brow furrowed as she tried to comprehend his words. A few months?

"Sara, there are a few more things I have to do: document some things for Maddie Klein so that we can try to get an idea about who our dirty law enforcer may be, take care of some business, but I think I'm ready to leave the lab. Things are shifting, there and here, and I feel like it's time for us to begin again."

She gazed at him, tears streaming down her cheeks. "You're sure about this?"

"Yeah. I just need a little more time. I'm not sure just how much yet."

She took a deep breath. "Okay." Stepping forward, she moved into his embrace. She wrapped her arms around him and looked up. "You came all the way home to tell me that you refuse to hire me?"

"Well, at least I can tell Ecklie I spoke to you."

She laughed and snuggled deeper. "Are you going back to work tonight?"

"Nope."

"Great." She pulled herself from his arms and grinned. "Then can you close the front door and come to bed?"


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter 13

It took hours to print the place, but between the prints and the video surveillance he pulled, it was an open and shut case. After reviewing the footage with Archie, and cross referencing with the prints he pulled, Greg had an ID on the suspect. Simon Baxter had numerous wants and warrants and after a night of printing, Greg was able to add another one. All they had to do was find the guy and arrest him. Greg's work was done.

Smiling, he finished logging in all of the evidence and headed for home, his own home, to sleep in his own bed for the first time in a week. It wasn't that he wasn't thankful for the way Catherine had put him up, he was. He had needed to be with the people closest to Warrick the past week. He needed Nick and Catherine and their support and comfort, just as they needed his. After a week of leaning on each other, though, it was time for them to move on with their own lives. He needed to go home, be alone, crank his music and get back to living his life the way he was used to. He also needed to pack, because in 38 hours, his life wouldn't be what he was used to. In 38 hours he was flying to L.A. to meet with his publisher and if all went well, his life would change forever. He'd be a published writer. Despite the fact that he would return to Vegas to continue working at a job he loved, his life would never be the same. It would be better.

* * *

They found her. Fifteen hours after she disappeared, seven hours after they were called in to investigate, they found her. Pressured by the up coming final exams and the need to choose where to attend university, she panicked. Fuelled by the alcohol she consumed at her friend's grad party that afternoon, she made a rash decision and hopped on a bus headed for L.A., where she would find work and try to get into the movies. When she arrived, she checked into a cheap motel and passed out. After sobering up the next day and seeing her face plastered across the news, she came to her senses and called home. Crisis averted.

It was one of those moments when Jim Brass found himself truly thankful. The girl came home. She would not be another one of those girls who get trapped in Los Angeles, dreaming big but ending up on the street, living a life they'd never imagined. She'd be alright. She was an intelligent girl. She had a future. She'd almost lost that future in a moment of blind panic, but she'd wised up and had the courage to call home.

He reached into his drawer and pulled out the scotch, filling his glass half way. He swirled the liquid in front of him and considered it. Was the glass half empty or half full? Half empty, he decided as he began to mourn all of the girls, girls like Ellie, who didn't get out. He sighed and placed the glass down in front of him. The picture next to the glass caught his eye. He picked it up and smiled at the image before him. Ellie had once been an innocent, young girl. He recalled the pictures Erin Taylor's parents showed him of their daughter growing up. Erin Taylor came home. While Ellie made the choice to live life on the streets, Erin Taylor made the choice to call home. He set down the picture and raised his glass. The glass wasn't half empty. It wasn't half full either. The glass contained as much as he'd put into it and he could give to it or take from it as much as he chose. With that thought, he toasted all the young women who were smart enough and brave enough to face their future rather than run from it, and all the other people who rose above their circumstances to give themselves a better life.

* * *

After a short sleep, Catherine woke up and rolled herself out of bed. She got up to check and see if Lindsay was still asleep. Lindsay was sitting at the table, sipping away at a cup of coffee when Catherine found her. She entered the kitchen and shook her head. "Coffee, really Lindsay?"

"I was up late, studying for the finals."

Catherine nodded and looked around the room. "Nick still sleeping?"

"No, he left about an hour ago."

"Oh." Catherine moved behind the counter and poured herself her own cup of coffee. Mug in hand, she walked around the counter, to the table, and sat down next to her daughter. "What exam were you studying for?"

Lindsay groaned. "History."

"When's that exam?"

"Tuesday."

She examined her daughter. Lindsay looked worn out from her late night studying. When Catherine had arrived home earlier that morning, she found Lindsay passed out on the couch. She wondered if that was how Erin Taylor felt, exhausted and overwhelmed. Lindsay still had a year of school left and was already studying herself into the ground. Catherine didn't know what Lindsay would be like in a year, but she didn't want her daughter to panic and run off the way Erin had. She reached out and brushed away the bangs from Lindsay's face. "You okay?"

Lindsay looked up at her, eyes wide but soft. "Yeah. How about you, mom? Are you okay?"

She took a deep breath and thought about the past week. She'd lost an amazing friend and she'd feel that loss forever. She thought about her investigation the previous night; it was going nowhere until Erin Taylor phoned home. Erin Taylor was only one year older than Lindsay. She had two loving parents who were terrified of what had become of their daughter. Then, after hours of worrying, Erin Taylor phoned home and admitted her mistake. It was obvious that her relationship with her parents was a good one. Catherine's own relationship with Lindsay had improved dramatically over the past couple of years. Lindsay had become her best friend. Catherine smiled softly and looked up to see her daughter awaiting the answer. "Yeah, I am." She paused and studied Lindsay, still perched over the cup of coffee. "Hey, what are your plans for the day?"

Lindsay sighed and took another sip of coffee. "Studying."

"Why don't you put the books away for today? We'll go out to the lake, do some boating and swimming and relax." Lindsay looked at her skeptically. Catherine smiled. "You need a break and you still have a year of school left. I know I'm always preaching to you about the importance of education, but you still need to remember to be young and have fun. Besides, I know you'll do fine, even if you miss a day of studying. The rest will probably do you good."

"The lake, huh?"

"Yeah, it'll be fun."

"Can we rent jet skis?"

Catherine laughed. "We'll see."

* * *

For a moment, he forgot all about the past week. Looking over at the girl laying next to him made it so easy to forget. He smiled.

"What?"

"Nothing."

"Nick, what?"

"I'm just watching you. What are you thinking about?"

"Oh, nothing. The weather. It's such a beautful day and we actually have clouds, so I'm just looking up at them."

"Really?" He glanced at her again, smiling with amusement. He'd picked Jessica up from the diner after her shift, hoping to retry the walk. So far, it had gone much better. They'd walked to a nearby park and ended up laying on their backs, gazing at the sky. "Just looking?"

She smiled shyly. "Well, sort of. I'm imagining what their shapes could be." He laughed. "What, you never did that as a child?"

"Actually, yes. My sister and I would lay out on the grass at our Texas ranch and try to name every cloud. They'd spend hours doing this. I usually got bored and went off to find some friends to play football with."

"I used to do this every time I saw a cloud, which wasn't often when you grow up in Vegas."

Nick smiled and turned on his side to gaze at the red head. "What do you see now?"

"Well that one," he followed her arm as she pointed to the sky, "kind of looks like the Starship Enterprise."

"They Starship Enterprise?"

"You know, off Star Trek."

He groaned. "I know. Don't tell me you're one of those."

"What?"

"A trekkie."

"No, but if I was bored, and it was one, I'd watch it. Besides, you don't have to be a trekkie to know what the Starship Enterprise looks like, and that cloud looks like it."

"You're right, I'm sorry." He rolled onto his back and raised his hands in mock surrender. He crossed his arms across his chest and turned his head to look at her. "So, what else do you see?"

"Well, that one could be a horse."

"A horse? Now that's something I could relate to."

"I love horses. Did you have horses on your Texas ranch?"

"Yes m'am." He smiled and let his accent drawl out.

"Is this your way of turning on the Texas charm?"

"Why, yes m'am."

"Tell me, does it really work?"

He laughed and turned on his side. "Sometimes. Is it working right now?" He grinned widely when she blushed. He rolled back onto his back and looked up. "Anything else up there, in that sky?"

"Well…"

"Come on."

"No, you're teasing me."

"I'll be good, I promise."

"Okay." He watched he bite her lip before continuing. "You see that cloud over there?"

He followed her arm to see where she was pointing and nodded. "Yeah?"

"I see a ship."

He frowned slightly, examining the cloud. "What kind of ship?"

"A big ship, one the explorers would have sailed. It could be Cook's ship…no, it's Columbus's ship."

"Which one?"

"The Santa Maria."

"The Santa Maria? Not the Nina or the Pinta?"

"No, the Santa Maria."

"Why the Santa Maria?"

"It has the most beautiful name."

He drew his arms up under his head and looked up. "Saint Maria."

"Saint Maria," she repeated softly.

"Well," he grinned, "I don't know. It looks like Francis Drake's ship to me."

"What? That pirate?" Nick felt her arm come across his chest. "No, it's the Santa Maria."

He laughed. "I stand corrected."

"You promised you wouldn't tease me."

"I'm sorry. It was just so tempting."

"Well, it's your turn now."

"What?"

"Your turn. Look at the sky and tell me what you see."

"There are only, like, three clouds left."

"Pick one."

"Okay, well," he pointed, "that one looks suspiciously like a cloud."

"Smart ass." He grinned. She turned towards him. "Suspend yourself from reality for one moment and look. You'll feel lighter, I promise."

"Okay." He scanned the remaining clouds before glancing over at her. She was on her back, gazing up again. She was beautiful and funny and sweet and he already felt so much better just hanging out with her. He smiled moved his eyes back to the sky. "Okay, I've got one." When she glanced at him skeptically, he grinned. "No, really, I really have one."

"Alright, what do you see?" It was clear from her tone of voice that she didn't really believe him, but was for the moment, willing to play alone.

"Well, I see a building."

"A building?"

"Yes. That cloud over there looks like a building."

"What kind of building."

"Well," he paused and pretended to think about it. "I think…I think it's a restaurant."

"Does this restaurant have a name?"

"I'm not sure. It must. I'll have to gaze at it for awhile and try to make one out. I'll let you know tonight when I pick you up and take you to dinner there."

She sat up and faced him. "Dinner?"

He sat up beside her and smiled. "Yeah. Is seven o'clock okay?"

"Uh, yeah."

"Great." He stood up, extending his hand to help her. "You'll see, when we get there, the restaurant will be the spitting image of that cloud."

"I'll bet."

"I'll take that bet." He took her hand and began walking.

"Hey Nick?"

"Yeah?"

"How are you going to pick me up when you don't know where I live?"

He smiled. "I guess I'll need an address then." When she smiled shyly and gave it to him, he turned to face her. "Jessica, you were right. I do feel lighter."

* * *

She wasn't sure if she had the strength to do it. Leaving him the first time had been hard enough. She was sure, having to do it all over again would kill her. Yet, there she found herself, standing by the line up, waiting to go through security. She stalled, not yet ready to step into the line, because once she did, it was goodbye.

"It's not goodbye." His soft, reassuring voice broke her thoughts. It amazed her that he could know what she was thinking. Maybe he was thinking it too.

She allowed him to him to tilt her face to his. God, it was so hard to leave him, even harder face to face. The last time, she was able to leave, scratch that, run away, and disappear, leaving him with a kiss he didn't know was goodbye. The face to face farewell was infinitely harder. Yet, here he was, encouraging her, reassuring her, promising her. She met his eyes. "No, it's not goodbye."

"No goodbyes, remember. Never goodbye."

"No, Gil."

"Soon, Sara. It won't be long. Soon we'll be ready and we'll get married." The inflection in his voice rose a little at the end and she knew it was as much a question as a statement. He needed the reassurance as much as she did. She nodded and placed her hands on his hips, closing her eyes as she felt his lips on her forehead.

"There's nothing I'd like more."

She felt his hands drop from her face and sneak under her arms, pulling her to his chest. She released his hips and moved her arms around his shoulders, returning his embrace. His hand came up behind her neck, holding her to him. Then, he let go.

She clung to him a little longer, feeling the pain of his release. A tear slid down her cheek. Immediately, his hand came up and tenderly wiped the tear away. He tilted her head up and pulled her in for a long, lingering kiss.

It took her a moment to open her eyes after the kiss ended. She stepped back. "I should go." He nodded.

"I'll miss you."

"Yeah, me too." She brushed his cheek before stepping into the line and being swept forward by all of the people around her. As the line moved, she allowed herself one last glance at him. He was watching her, hands in his pockets, shoulders slumped, looking as lost as she imagined he'd looked when he read her letter. "This isn't goodbye," she repeated, steadying herself and moving forward. She was going to do this. She could leave him, because after this time, she was never going to do it again. She looked ahead. She was going to piece her shattered life back together because what was waiting for her at the end, was everything.

* * *

He could do nothing but watch as she was ushered forth to the security screening. There was so much he'd wanted to show her, but never, so much he wanted to say, but couldn't. He'd seen the fear in her eyes when she was faced with leaving him again. He should have told her how he felt about her, just once, and maybe it would have made it a little easier. He wished he could have that moment all over again. Who was he kidding? He could be given the opportunity a thousand times and the result would be the same.

She was gone from his sight, through security, on her way to her gate. He closed his eyes, recalling how she looked when he kissed her the first time and when he kissed her the last time. He needed to see her again before she left, even if it was only for a moment. "Sara!"

He stepped into the line and made his way through the people to security, pulling his ID as he moved forward.

"Boarding Pass?"

"I don't have one. I'm Gil Grissom, I'm with the Crime Lab. I need to get through."

"Is there a problem, sir? We weren't informed of anything."

"No, I'm not here as part of an official investigation, but I do need to get through." He looked past the screening as Sara's form moved further and further away. "Sara!"

"I'm sorry, sir, but if you aren't part of an investigation and you don't have a boarding pass, I can't let you through."

"Please. Phone the manager of the airport. He can tell you who I am. Please, let me through. Screen me if you have to."

"I'm really, very sorry, but we've had to tighten security again. I will call the manager, though."

"Thank you."

Grissom waited while security called the manager. He kept looking forward trying to find Sara amongst the crowd, but couldn't. "Sir?" He looked up. "Sir, I'm sorry, I can't get a hold of the manager. You can wait here while we try again."

"No, it's okay." He'd lost his chance. Sara was gone and he'd have to wait for her to land before he could speak to her. He'd have to wait even longer to see her. He dropped his head and turned away, making his way back through the line and towards the exit.

"Gilbert."

The sound was the sweetest thing he'd ever heard. His head flew up. He could scarcely believe the sight in front of him. "Sara."

In an instant, she was in his arms, throwing her own arms around his neck. He held her tightly. Her tears spilled onto his shoulder. He began to rock her gently. "Sara, what are you doing here? You should be at your gate."

"I know. I know, but I have time. We were ridiculously early, as usual. I was walking down the corridor and I thought I heard you call me. I realized, I just wanted to see you again."

"You heard me call?"

"You did call? I wasn't imagining it?"

"No, I tried to get to you. I couldn't get through security."

Sara laughed. "Did you tell them who you are?"

"It didn't work." He cupped Sara's cheek and gazed at her. "Listen Sara, I know you're scared, but everything will be alright. You have my full support, you know that, right?"

"I know. I just don't want it to be months before we can see each other again."

"I don't either. Whenever you need a break, you can always visit, and I'll book some days off and visit you in San Francisco, if that's alright?" He held his breath, waiting for her answer.

"I'm so glad you suggested it. I didn't want to ask you to take time off to see me."

He smiled, feeling immensely relieved. "Anytime Sara." He paused and gazed at her. "You know, I wanted to relive our parting. Thank you for coming back."

"I didn't want to leave without you knowing just how much I love you. You're my life, Gil. I love you."

"I know." He pulled back to look at her tear filled eyes and swallowed. "I love you too, more than anything."

An announcement over the intercom interrupted their moment. "You should go. I'll see you soon, as soon as I can get away if that's alright."

"I'll be waiting." Sara moved forward and kissed him. It was a short kiss, a chaste kiss, but so full of promise. Then, she was gone again. He was smiling as he watched her go. He got to relive his moment, and by some miracle, got a different outcome. She could leave to banish her demons, but he'd never lose her. They could be hit with tragedy, but they'd face it together. Having her there for him made everything easier. They could move past his insecurities and her past and Warrick's death. They had something to fight for and he was going to fight for it. He would be leaving in a few months and Sara would be closer to exorcising her ghosts. Grissom smiled. It would be the beginning of everything.

_The beginning…_

**A/N:** I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm so sorry. I know you wanted them to catch Warrick's killer, but I wanted this story to be about the team coming together and their process of healing and I also didn't think they could get the Under Sherrif based on what they had to go on. BUT, this is only beginning. Again, I'm really, very sorry.


End file.
